Kill Me Slowly
by Marauder29
Summary: Amalthea Marchbanks, the seemingly shy Slytherin who believes she shouldn't be in Slytherin. Tom Riddle, the charismatic Headboy, loved by many. Tom may have fooled everyone else, but he doesn't fool Amalthea. She knows Tom Riddle is dangerous. She knows that his charm is but a facade that hides the true Riddle. Trouble is, despite it all, she just can't seem to stay away from him.
1. Chapter One : Said the Spider to The Fly

_**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter or the characters in the canon. All credits go to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Prologue_**

 _He was always a little odd. No one else saw it._

 _But Amalthea did._

 _It was the red flash in his usually serene eyes when something ticked him off._

 _It was the tightening of the corners of his mouth when something did not go his way._

 _A peek behind the usually calm façade of his. A warning that all was not what it seemed._

 _She tried to stay away from him. Lord knows, she tried. She told herself repeatedly, that no good would come of getting close to him. She even tried to physically avoid him._

 _But the dangerous pull towards him was too strong._

* * *

 ** _Chapter One: Said The Spider to the Fly_**

 _It would be quite a disappointment to your father and I, if you refuse to attend again, this year. And I think you've disappointed us quite enough, Amalthea._

The words from her mother's letter played through her head on a continuous loop. It was one thing to feel like a disappointment, and quite another to be told directly.

First in her family to ever be sorted into Slytherin. Her family, that boasted of being direct descendants of Godric Gryffindor himself. No wonder her parents had not gotten over that disappointment, even seven years later. To add insult to the injury, no one understood why she had been sorted into Slytherin. She was not ambitious or cunning. Maybe she would have been better off in Hufflepuff, since courage and superior intelligence were not exactly her strong suit either.

"Miss Marchbanks, is something wrong?" came a polite voice.

She looked up to see her Transfiguration teacher, Professor Dumbledore surveying her with puzzlement.

Along with the rest of the class.

Merlin, she'd been caught up in her internal musings. Again.

"I'm sorry, Professor, did you ask something?" she stammered.

"Well I _was_ asking the incantation for a Vanishing Spell."

Oh bollocks, she'd forgotten. What was it? _Evanoso_ , _Evacneso_?

" _Evanesco."_ said a clear voice from behind her

"Ah, yes. Thank you, Mr. Riddle. Five points to Slytherin."

Cheeks on fire, Amalthea slid down her seat slightly. She really needed to fix this drifting off habit of hers.

The lesson passed without any further incident. As Professor Dumbledore swept out of the classroom, she picked up her bag and started out the door.

"Marchbanks. Wait just one moment."

Riddle?

Surprised, and not just a little nervous, Amalthea swung around to look at the handsome Head boy.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your habit of getting distracted in class. You've lost Slytherin house quite a few points over the past few weeks. You are lucky Professor Dumbledore is lenient, else you'd have lost points today as too."

Amalthea felt a surge of irritation at his supercilious tone.

"What is your point?"

"My point is you need to do something about it. You're going to make us lose the House Cup at this rate."

"Five or ten points lost over daydreaming will make us lose the House Cup?" she asked incredulously.

He only shrugged in response.

Amalthea struggled to bring her temper under control. She hated making scenes, and if she wanted to continue her peaceful life of solitude and staying in the corner, she needed to just give in and accept the blame.

Just like she did at home.

"I'm sorry, I'll try not to do it again." she said quietly.

"I should hope so." he said snidely.

Jaw clenching, Amalthea felt her usually serene countenance shatter.

"There's no need to be an arse, Riddle." she snapped.

She saw his eyes narrow at the insult.

"I may be an arse, Marchbanks but you're quite vexing yourself."

She felt herself turn pink. Turning to leave, she felt a hand on her arm.

"Running away into a corner as usual?" he questioned.

 _He noticed?_

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," she stammered.

"Oh, come now, Marchbanks. You can't think I'm a total idiot," said Tom, "We're both in the same year. In the same house. And yet I seldom see you around aside from classes."

"It's just a coincidence, I'm sure," she replied, looking avidly at the ground.

He leaned back into the wall focusing his intent gaze on her.

"You know, Marchbanks. People call me anti-social, but you're worse. Aside from meals and classes, I don't think I have even seen you around. Why?"

Amalthea didn't reply, hoping he would stop his probing and just go away.

"You know. I do believe we shall be seeing more of each other soon," he chuckled, "Curiosity is, after all, a besetting sin of mine."

"I am sure you have more of those," muttered Amalthea.

"Curiosities?"

"Sins." she snapped, "Are we done here?"

"For now. We'll talk again soon."

And with those words he straightened, and walked out, leaving a very bewildered witch in his wake.

* * *

Amalthea managed to avoid Riddle for the next few days. It was harder, now that he was actively seeking her out, and so it was no surprise that on the fifth day, he managed to corner her outside the Charms classroom.

"You've been avoiding me," he stated.

"I thought it was best. We should stay as far as we can from each other." said Amalthea, in a stubborn voice.

"You drew that conclusion from one conversation? Come now, Marchbanks, you can do better than that."

She clamped her mouth shut in an effort to hold back the retort she wanted to give.

He sighed.

"I suppose you're too afraid to hold a simple conversation. Pity."

"Sod off, Tom," she replied unthinkingly.

Her eyes widened as she realized what she'd blurted out. She watched as the corner of his mouth lifted into a charmingly crooked smile.

"I think not," he replied, "In fact, why don't we go to Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"You're-what? Are you asking me out on _a date_? Did you not just hear what I said?" she sputtered.

He gave her a boyish grin that made her heart stutter. _No,_ she told herself sternly, _not him. You can't fall for him._

"A date..." said Tom thoughtfully, "Hmm…I suppose one could call it that. Come now, Marchbanks. You don't mean to say you're _afraid_ of me."

Despite herself, Amalthea felt her temper rise.

"I am _not_ afraid of you, you pompous-" she shut her mouth, horrified at the slip.

"Perfect." said Tom smoothly, "I shall meet you outside the Great Hall at six. Do try not to be late."

And, for the second time, Amalthea found herself looking at Tom walk away, leaving her stunned.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

* * *

Despite the fact that she kept telling herself she did not care what Tom Riddle thought of her, Amalthea found herself the next day, rummaged through her things trying to find something that would make her look, at the very least, moderately attractive for...her _date._

 _Her date with Tom Riddle._

"This is so ridiculous." she groaned, falling on to her bed.

Her roommate, Lucilla Black, who was sitting on the bed next to her, looked up from her book.

"Everything alright?" she inquired politely.

"Oh-uh- yes. I was just trying to look for a suitable dress for-for Hogsmeade." Amalthea replied quickly.

Lucilla gave a wry smile.

"Well if you would like my opinion. I quite like the green one. It compliments your hair."

Amalthea picked up the said dress and gave her a grateful smile.

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it. I hope you enjoy...Hogsmeade."

 _I doubt it,_ thought Amalthea.

A/N: New Replacement chapter. The last one was too inconsistent and full of holes. I hope everyone enjoys this one!


	2. Chapter Two : Dance of Deception

**_Chapter Two: Dance of Deception_**

Despite her indecision, Amalthea reached the Great Hall at six, and found Riddle already there.

"Marchbanks, you're on time. I am impressed."

"Hello, Riddle."

"You look quite fetching in that dress."

"Save the empty flattery for your bevy of admirers." she said, rolling her eyes.

He made a soft tutting noise.

"Does the prospect of my company annoy you that much?"

"I don't understand why you asked me to go with you," she shrugged, "And not knowing is putting me on edge."

He was quiet for a moment.

"Quite the honest one, aren't you?" he said at last.

She looked at him in surprise.

"Why would I lie?" she asked.

He didn't reply, instead offering her his arm. She took it gingerly, and they set off towards the Entrance Hall.

"So, tell me something. How did one of the Marchbanks, the _direct descendants_ of Godric Gryffindor, end up in the house of Salazar Slytherin."

She sighed in resignation.

"I am afraid I am not the right one to ask. I have been asking myself the same question for the past seven years and I still haven't gotten the answer. Then again, I've never felt particularly inclined towards any other House either."

"Your family must have been disappointed."

There was that word again. Disappointed. Amalthea was starting to hate it..

"Disappointed would be quite the understatement." she said with a bitter laugh, "They were beside themselves. I try not to go home aside from the summer holidays. It's much too hard to deal with the pained looks, and the betrayed attitude. My father-"

She suddenly clamped her mouth shut, realizing she had revealed too much; to someone with whom she had not exchanged more than a few words in seven years, no less.

 _Why did I just blurt out so much to him?_

"Your father?" prompted Riddle.

She gave him a carefully bland smile.

"My father was especially disappointed, that's all."

He chuckled.

"You know, Marchbanks. A better person would pretend to believe you." he brushed back a strand of hair off her face, "But we both know I'm not that person."

Amalthea was about to reply, when he spoke up again.

"Ahh look, we're almost at Hogsmeade. Should we get a drink at the Three Broomsticks?"

 _I don't understand him at all_

"Sure."

* * *

Riddle didn't bring up the topic of her family again. And, despite the nagging voice in her head that told her to be wary of him, Amalthea found herself actually having a good time.

Not only was he charming when he wanted to be, he was also extremely well learned and he regaled her with fascinating stories of the Four Founders, information on varieties of magical beasts and potions, and even the components of Magical Law.

She found herself passionately arguing with him on the topic of werewolf rights, two hours later, outside the Hog's Head.

"They're still regular people. Why shouldn't they be granted the same jobs as the rest of us?"

"Honestly, Marchbanks, don't be so naive. Once every month they turn to slobbering beasts, they have poor health, on the whole their usefulness is greatly decreased-"

"You can't base rights on usefulness!"

"And why not?"

Amalthea opened up her mouth to reply, and then noticed how dark it had become. She jumped to her feet.

"Merlin, it's late! We should be getting back to the castle." she exclaimed.

Riddle got to his feet lazily, and offered her his arm.

"Come along then."

They trudged back to the castle in silence. When they reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, she turned to him with a hesitant smile.

"I-I had a good time today." she said.

He looked at her and, for a second, something flashed in his eyes, before his face turned inscrutable again.

"Is that so?" he asked. "Well, you're not an entirely lost cause, Marchbanks. I'll give you that."

"Would it kill you to give a decent reply, Riddle?"

His only reply was another one of his crooked smiles. Flushing, Amalthea turned and gave the password to enter the common room. Once inside, she said a hasty goodnight and rushed to her dormitory.

* * *

He watched the young witch flee the room as if Cerberus were after her. He did not know what had compelled him to take the girl to Hogsmeade. Despite that day at the Christmas Ball, he had decided to stay away from her. She seemed too meek, too timid. However the hidden spirit she'd shown that day in Transfiguration had proven him wrong.

Tom Riddle was not often wrong.

Of course, she still had no idea that he had been avoiding her too.

Perhaps it would be better to keep it that way. He would never tell her that he had kept away from her because he was...attracted to her. It repulsed him. He was a great wizard, one who had no time for foolish, base desires. He could not afford to be distracted from his ultimate goal.

The Horcruxes.

Yes, that was what needed his attention. Not shy brunette witches with an inner core of steel and-

He shook himself in disgust. What was he doing, raving poetic about a girl who had no business being a Slytherin.

Amalthea Marchbanks had the potential to become a distraction. He needed to remove her as soon as possible. Today had been a mistake.

He had been curious that's all. And today he had been drawn to the sharp mind he had glimpsed inside her, despite her claims of being dull. But there was nothing _that_ special about her. There would be no more dates to Hogsmeade. No more stories, or debates. This had been a onetime thing to assuage his inquisitiveness. Yes, he would stay away from her now. It would be easy.

After all, Tom Riddle did not need anyone.


	3. Chapter Three : Potions And Emotions

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Chapter Three : Potions and (Conflicting) Emotions_**

Amalthea lay in her bed, flushed and confused and just a little bit excited. Against all her expectations, the date had gone splendidly. Maybe she'd misjudged Riddle too soon. After all, there had to be some reason why everyone adored him. Yes, she had imagined the strange vibes he gave off. He had acted like the perfect gentleman the whole time Turning on her side, she gave a small smile as she remembered how he had given her his coat, when he saw her shivering.

 _Ahhh I can't sleep like this,_ she thought.

She climbed off her bed and put on her dressing gown. Picking up a book, she headed to the common room, for some light reading.

As she was about to enter, she heard male voices coming from inside.

"-heard you took the Marchbanks girl to Hogsmeade today."

 _They're talking about me._

"Indeed." came Riddle's bored voice.

"Do you fancy her then?" That was Malfoy's voice.

She inched closer to hear his response.

Riddle laughed derisively.

"That mousy little thing? Do not be ridiculous, Malfoy. I was just curious about her that is all."

"So you took her to Hogsmeade simply because you were curious about something? Poor witch is in for a rude shock."

Raucous male laughter.

Amalthea backed away, her face red. Wiping away tears, she ran back to her dormitory. Once in bed, she replayed the conversation in her head.

 _What a fool she'd been. Sillysillygirl. Why-_

No. She shook herself. This was not her fault. This was his fault. Riddle. He did not get to do this to a girl. Take her out, shower her with attention, and then… _insult_ her. Suddenly furious, she vowed to not let this happen again. She'd been hiding behind the meek façade for far too long. No more. Tomorrow, the world would see the real Amalthea.

* * *

Amalthea woke to find three faces peering down at her. Alarmed, she jerked upright to look at the shocked expressions of her roommates Lucinda Nott, Dahlia Rookwood, and Salazaria Rosewood.

"Something the matter, girls?" she questioned, startled.

Salazaria, a raven haired beauty, shook back her long mane of hair disdainfully.

"What is the matter, she asks!" she sneered, "You know perfectly well what is wrong, you little wretch!"

Dahlia, the calmest one of the trio, put a placating hand on Salazaria's arm. Salazaria shook it off, clearly worked up.

"You _knew_ he was mine! You _knew_! And yet, you went out with him!" she screeched.

Understanding dawned on Amalthea's face. This was about _Riddle_. Dimly, she did recall Salazaria talking about him several times. However, she had never thought that her interest was serious. She would never have gone out with Riddle otherwise. She had no interest in engaging in a tug-of-war over a boy.

Especially not a manipulative arsehole like Riddle.

"I am sorry if I upset you. I did not realize you both were together." she said raising an eyebrow.

The raven haired witch turned slightly turned red.

"We're not- I mean- Not yet, but-"

She paused to collect herself.

"I don't want your pathetic apologies, Marchbanks. I want you to stay away from Tom Riddle."

Sighing in exasperation, Amalthea got out of bed.

"You do not have to threaten me. It was simply a onetime occurrence. You are welcome to him."

Salazaria blinked in confusion, clearly having anticipated a scenario where she intimidated Amalthea into submission.

"W-well, I hope you keep your word." she muttered, before flouncing out of the dormitory followed by Lucinda. Dahlia made to follow them, then, hesitating, she turned to Amalthea.

"I apologize for the ambush, Miss Marchbanks. But Salazaria can get really worked up sometimes...and...well..."

Amalthea gave the girl a small smile.

"You do not have to apologize. And you _can_ call me Amalthea you know. We've been in the same dormitory for seven years. The formality is quite unneeded."

Dahlia nodded in acknowledgment and went after her friends.

Sighing, Amalthea got out of bed, and started getting ready.

 *********************** _ **KMS**_ ********************

Tom saw Amalthea enter the Potions classroom from the corner of his eye. Avoiding his eyes, she sat at the farthest corner of the classroom from him.

He felt somewhat relieved. It seemed she still stuck to her earlier belief of staying far away from him. Good. This way he wouldn't have to go through the tiresome act of explaining his disinterest (however feigned), to her. He had not been looking forward to the possibility of her raging at him, or worse, _crying._

He shuddered. It had been known to happen before.

He was well aware of his appeal to the opposite sex. He was attractive, intelligent, and charming. Though this attraction had its uses, it could become quite annoying on occasions where some obstinate female would imagine herself in love with him.

 _Love._ How foolish.

However…It did slightly sting his pride knowing that Amalthea had decided to ignore him. _He_ was the one who was supposed to make that call. He felt a little…rejected.

"Tom, m'boy, would you like to give the answer?" boomed a voice.

Tom jerked up to see Slughorn beaming at him. He pasted on a suitably sheepish expression.

"I'm sorry, sir. Could you please repeat the question? I am afraid I lost track for a moment there."

Slughorn chuckled.

"Some lovely lady occupying your attention, m'boy?" he winked, "I was asking about the best antidote for poisons."

"That would be a bezoar, sir."

"Right you are! Ten points to Slytherin! Now, the bezoar-"

As Slughorn droned on, Tom glanced across the classroom at Amalthea. She looked curiously agitated, as she furiously scribbled on her parchment. He noticed Salazaria Rosewood glaring daggers at the brunette witch, and gave a small derisive smile. He had an idea as to what had the statuesque beauty so irritated. Salazaria had made her interest in him plain for quite some time. He'd even toyed with the idea of accepting it as she might have proved useful, but had discarded the notion because of how high maintenance she would have been.

"I will now pair you up for today's assignment. You will be brewing the Draught of Living Death. The winners will get an invite to my exclusive Slug Club party tonight." Slughorn grinned widely as if an invitation to one of his pathetic parties was a great prize.

Sometimes, Tom despised the man.

"Alright, then. Miss Rosewood, you're with Mr. Avery. Miss Marchbanks! You may come sit with Mr. Riddle here. And Mr. Macmillan-"

Tom heard a soft groan, from the direction of Amalthea, and chuckled wryly.

* * *

Amalthea heard Slughorn announce her pairing with Tom, and groaned. Salazaria would be impossible after this. She'd been giving her murderous glances ever since Slughorn had mentioned some girl being on Riddle's mind.

She snorted. More likely he had been plotting the sacrifice of virgins or something. Even the sight of his face irritated her. He was too calm, too controlled, too _everything._ Some devil inside her wanted to shake him up a little, make him lose that infuriating calm of his.

An idea struck her. And she chuckled softly.

Thumping her books on his table, Amalthea gave him a fake cheery grin.

"Morning, Tommy!" she sang.

She fought the urge to laugh at his expression. Riddle looked as if she had hit him with a Body-binding Curse. He quickly recovered however and gave her a guileless smile.

"Hullo, Amalthea." he said smoothly.

She pouted at him.

"I hope you know how to make this silly little potion, Tom! I am _so_ confused. You _will_ help me won't you?"

Confused annoyance flashed across his face. She smiled to herself in victory.

"Yes, I do. Just chop up some of these ingredients-"

The rest of the lesson went by very enjoyably for Amalthea. She whined, she pouted, she complained of getting her fingers dirty, all the while watching Riddle's face grow stormier by the second. However, he couldn't say anything without sullying his precious reputation.

When the potions were all done, Slughorn took rounds to judge them. She wasn't surprised when their potion won, she'd made Riddle do most of the work, and despite his many flaws, he did know how to brew a decent potion.

"Oh, well done Miss Marchbanks, Mr. Riddle!" he chuckled. "This means the two of you will be my guests tonight's party! I do presume you will come?"

Riddle opened his mouth to say something, but Amalthea cut him off.

"Of _course,_ Professor. We wouldn't miss it!"

"Ahh, splendid!"

After Slughorn left, Riddle turned to her, fuming.

"What on earth are about, Marchbanks?"

Amalthea gave him a dazzling smile.

"What's wrong, _Tommy_? Didn't expect the _mousy little thing_ to have a backbone?" she said sweetly, "I heard you in the common room. You and your horrid friends. You disgust me, Riddle."

Then, without pausing to hear his reply, she swung her bag over her shoulder and stormed out the dungeon.

* * *

 _A/N : So there you have it! I told you romance wasn't on the horizon yet. Also in case anyone in wondering about the Name change, I discovered that the name I used was actually used by another author whose story I loved a lot. I do not know if they still write, but regardless, out of respect I changed it. I actually researched a little on medieval names as I find them beautiful and settled on Amalthea. It seemed to fit. Also thank you to everyone who reviewed and favorited this story! To a guest reviewer who gave me some lovely constructive criticism : I am sorry about the grammar mistakes. Editing your own work is HARD. I will work on it. I agree 100% that the way Amalthea and Tom talked was amateurish af and the only defense I have is that it was 2am and I just picked up my laptop and started typing without any planning. I have tried to work on that. And will plan better. I am trying make Amalthea neither a Mary Sue (I HATE gorgeous af perfect heroines) nor someone who is pathetic. Thank you for your feedback. 3_


	4. Chapter Four : Lips Like Poison

_**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Chapter Four: Lips Like Poison_**

Amalthea exited the dungeon shaking with anger. How _dare_ he act like the injured party here! Him, who had utterly acted like a veritable arse!

 _And she had just volunteered to go to Slughorn's party with him._

She stopped short and groaned. So far, her vow to be stronger had just gotten her into a huge mess. There was nothing she could do about it though. She would never back out of the party now and risk looking like a coward in front of Riddle.

 _Merlin, what a bloody mess._

She trudged to the Slytherin common room, lost in her thoughts.

" _Basilisk"_ she said, and stepped inside, coming face to face with Lucilla.

"Oh hullo." Said Lucilla, "You look like you've had a long day."

Thea smiled at her, tiredly.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"Well, yes." said Lucilla, sympathetically.

Thea then realized she was blocking the way to the exit.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You probably need to pass."

"Well, I was going to the library, but you look like you could use someone to talk to?"

Amalthea looked at her, surprised.

"That actually sounds….nice." she said.

Amalthea and Lucilla settled into a corner of the common room, and somehow Amalthea found herself spilling everything that had happened, from that first odd conversation in the corridor to the disparaging remarks she had heard Tom make after the date.

Lucilla listened to the whole tale in silence. After Amalthea was done she let out a heavy breath, saying,  
"Wow, I must say, that's a surprise. Riddle and I have never been close, but this isn't something I'd have expected from him, if only because he's usually too in control."

Amalthea hesitated then said,

"I have to ask, why now? Why have you decided to extend your friendship when for so long we've never said more than a few words to each other."

Lucilla looked away, and a sad look passed over her face.

"Recent events have forced me to realize that life is fleeting. And one should take full advantage of it while it lasts. Solitude can be good in small doses, but if overdone, it can be poison to the soul."

She shook herself and faced Amalthea again.

"I do quite like you Amalthea. Which is why you were the one I wanted to get to know better."

Amalthea blinked suddenly, fighting the urge to cry. She'd gone so long without having someone to confide to and rely on, that she did not know how to react to Lucilla's friendship. On impulse, she grabbed Lucilla's hand.

"Thank you." she said sincerely, "For taking a chance, and for reaching out to me."

Lucilla's own eyes had become a little misty. She opened her mouth to respond when a voice came from behind them.

"Well now, what do we have here."

Amalthea froze, and then turned around to look at the face of the person she loathed.

"Riddle."

"Marchbanks. Ah, and the charming Miss Black. I must say finding you both cozied up together is a surprise. I was under the impression that Marchbanks had no friends."

Lucilla stared at him coolly.

"Well, it would appear that you were wrong."

Riddle smirked, and turned to Amalthea.

"I came to remind you of Slughorn's party, tonight. We _are_ going together, after all."

And with that, he left.

Lucilla turned to Amalthea, incredulous.

"Why are you going to Professor Slughorn's party with him?"

Amalthea sighed, and related what had happened in Potions. By the end of the tale Lucilla was beside herself with laughter.

"Oh I would have loved to see his face when you called him Tommy." she gasped.

Amalthea grinned. It _had_ been quite comical.

"Well in any case we need a plan." Said Lucilla, "Riddle will regret ever saying those things to you."

"How do you propose we do that?" asked Thea, curiously.

Lucilla gave a mischievous smile, which seemed at odds with her angelic face.

"By making you look so ravishing that he'll regret ever having played with your heart."

"I doubt that'd work." said Thea warily.

Lucilla gave a dismissive wave.

"He's a man." was all she said.

She took Amalthea by the hand and marched her upstairs to their dormitory.

"Alright, show me what you have in your wardrobe."

Fifteen minutes later, Lucilla stood over the pile of clothes ejected from Amalthea's wardrobe, shaking her head.

"These are all pretty enough, but we need something heart stopping." she said. "Wait here."

She turned to her own wardrobe and began rooting through her things.

"Wait, no, Lucilla- I can't possibly wear your clothes! I would feel extremely guilty."

Lucilla straightened and turned around, clothes in her arms.

"Have we agreed to be friends or not?" she asked, fiercely.

"We have but-"

She softened her voice, "I have never really had a proper friend before, so maybe I am going overboard. I do realize that just one conversation does not make a close friend, but I would like to try."

Amalthea suddenly felt horribly guilty for her protestations, and she agreed to wear whatever Lucilla asked, making her face brighten at once as she unfolded the dress robes she had in her arms.

Thea gasped.

The robes were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Made of a slinky silver material that shone as though it was sewn with diamonds, the robes were long sleeved with a neckline that plunged enough downward to be seductive, but not racy.

"I-Its. Oh my." she stammered.

Lucilla beamed at her response.

"Now, we need to decide what do with your hair…."

A couple of hours later, Amalthea stood in front of a mirror, with conflicted feelings.

On one hand, she felt beautiful and empowered and ready to face the world.

However….

The girl in the mirror reminded her too much of that dreadful New Year's party where….

No. She wouldn't think of that. It was in the past now.

Running a gloved hand over her hair self-consciously, she turned and headed to the common room to meet with her 'date'.

She found Tom standing in front of the common room fire, his back towards her. She cleared her throat sharply, causing him to turn towards her.

"Let's go then." she said.

Tom didn't reply, his gaze raking her from head to toe.

Amalthea cocked her head to the side, waiting for a reply. Seeming to realize that he still hadn't said something Tom finally spoke up.

"Ah. Yes. Come along then."

Amalthea gritted her teeth at his dismissive tone and followed him to the exit.

 _Well, that plan was a bust._

* * *

Tom Riddle was in a foul mood. Not that anyone would have been able to tell of course. He was his usual charming self, as he let Slughorn introduce him to everyone who was someone, at his party.

Damn that Marchbanks. His plan to ignore her existence was going swimmingly, until she showed up in that bloody dress. His baffling attraction to her aside, she was no sultry enchantress. Not sore on the eyes, but not a raving beauty. However, tonight, in that dress, that hair-

Well, she quite literally spelt trouble.

 _She's just a girl,_ he reminded himself, _Just a girl in a pretty dress._

As he watched her from the corner off his eyes, drawing herself into a corner to study the paintings on the wall, Gavin DeLancey sidled up to her and said something to catch her attention. After a minute, she threw her head back and laughed, exposing her slender throat.

He clenched his fist, feeling an odd urge to hex DeLancey senseless.

 _Mine._

The word came unbidden into his mind startling him. Amalthea Marchbanks was not his in any way. He may be twisted, but he was not a barbarian, and he did not have any desire to own anyone.

Right?

He scowled inwardly, displeased that a mere slip of a girl was wreaking such havoc in his thoughts.

"Tom, m'boy! Where's your charming date?" came Slughorn's voice.

He plastered a smile on his face.

"I don't know, sir. I am afraid I lost her somewhere in the crowd."

"Well now, that won't do at all! Come, we shall go seek her out, and I shall apologize for hogging your time."

"That won't be necessary-"Tom began, but Slughorn was already shepherding him to where Amalthea stood with DeLancey.

"Ah, Miss Marchbanks! There you are. I have come to return your date with the sincerest apologies for keeping him to myself."

Tom watched as Amalthea gave a brittle smile.

"It's quite alright, Professor. Gavin here was giving me company, so I was not alone." she said.

"Always, the gentleman, eh, Mr. DeLancey?" boomed Slughorn.

DeLancey smirked, and Tom felt the urge to hex him become stronger.

His eyes strayed to where DeLancey's hand rested on Amalthea's shoulder, and noticed how stiffly she was holding herself.

It didn't take a genius to see how uncomfortable that prat's touch was making her. Tom wondered if DeLancey knew how close he was to having his fingers broken by him. As his fingers twitched on his wand, the room went dark.

* * *

Amalthea felt like an idiot. A pretty idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. As soon as they had arrived at the party, Slughorn had swept Riddle away for introductions, rendering her plan to make him fall to his knees, useless.

She wandered around the dimly lit room, taking in her surroundings. The room was crammed with a diverse array of guests; from students to Ministry officials to Quidditch players. She thought she even saw a couple of goblins in the corner conversing with Professor Flitwick. The room was lit with tiny balls of lights floating around the room, and somehow the same enchantment that reflected the sky in the Great Hall had been done to the ceiling, showing the twinkling night sky.

She noticed an interesting collection on paintings of magical creatures on the wall and drew forward to take a closer look. One particular painting caught her attention: a giant bear-like dog with jet black fur. The look in his yellow eyes seemed somehow familiar as they glittered ominously.

"Bloody terrifying, isn't it?" came a voice.

Amalthea jumped out of her daze and turned to face the handsome face of Gavin DeLancey.

"It is rather." she admitted.

"That's a picture of The Grim. People say it's an omen of death but _I_ think it's just misunderstood, poor thing." he said mischievously.

Shelaughed, despite herself.

"You're Amalthea aren't you?" he asked

"Yes, and you must be Gavin DeLancey." she smiled.

"The very same." he gave a mock bow.

She turned back to survey the painting once more. She felt Gavin draw closer and casually place his hand on her half bare shoulder making her stiffen at the contact. She was deciding how to extricate her shoulder from his presumptuous touch, when she heard Slughorn's voice.

"Ah, Miss Marchbanks! There you are. I have come to return your date with the sincerest apologies for keeping him to myself."

She gave him a strained smile, conscious of Gavin's hand on her shoulder.

"It's quite alright, Professor. Gavin here was giving me company, so I was not alone."

"Always, the gentleman, eh, Mr. DeLancey?" said Slughorn.

She noticed Riddle's eyes on Gavin's hand and she felt an irrational urge to blush.

 _That's ridiculous,_ she scolded herself, _Gavin may be a boorish arse, but Riddle is worse. Who cares what he thinks._

 _Even if he does look handsome as sin in those dress robes._

She inwardly scowled at that unwanted thought.

As Gavin opened his mouth to reply, the room was suddenly plunged into darkness. In a flash she tugged her shoulder free, and reached for her wand.

" _Lumos_." she said.

Nothing happened. Throughout the room she heard echoes of the same spell, but not a single speck of light shone.

She heard Slughorn's loud voice telling people to calm down when-

 _ **BANG.**_

Amalthea jumped at the noise. She could hear the panicked cries of people all around her and she looked around in vain for an exit but it was impossible to see anything in the blackness.

 _ **BANG. BANG.**_

More shrieking.

And then, as suddenly as the lights had gone out, they were back. she looked around her and saw the same agitated expression that she was sure was on her face. Gavin looked positively green; Slughorn looked near tears and Riddle- well.

Riddle looked much the same as usual.

She suddenly heard a scream that sounded like Miriam Abbott and whirled around. Miriam was pointing with a shaking finger towards the wall, where something was written in large red letters.

 _ **MAKE MAGIC PURE AGAIN. MUDBLOODS GO HOME.**_

Amalthea felt bile rise up her throat at the hateful words. Someone muttered a spell and the writing disappeared, but she still couldn't shake the image from her mind. She turned around. She needed to get out of this room, and back to her dormitory. She wished she'd never come. As she rushed out the room and headed toward the dungeons, she heard footsteps behind her.

Riddle fell into step beside her, and they made their way to the common room in silence. Just a she was about to enter, she heard him speak.

"Marchbanks, wait,"

"What is it, Riddle?" she asked wearily.

He said nothing, just looked at her. She felt anger rising up inside her. Before she knew what she was doing, she marched up to him and grabbed him by the front of his dress robes.

"Why don't you just leave me alone, Riddle? Your curiosity is satisfied, isn't it? I heard you. You know that. I know you have no attraction to me. What confuses me is why you were even curious in the first place. It wasn't pity. You're not that good of a person. Then _why?_ Why did you even bother?"

To her horror, she felt tears on her face. She couldn't cry in front of him, she couldn't. But the emotional turmoil of the stupid party had unraveled her, Gavin's touch, Tom's dismissiveness, the horrid writing on the wall, it was all too much.

'S _ay something_ , _damn you.'_

She looked up into his eyes, expecting to see cool dismissal in his eyes. Instead she saw them swimming with suppressed rage and frustration. In a trice he disentangled her hands from his robes and backed her into the wall, his hands still holding her wrists.

"You think I'm not attracted to you?" he hissed, "I've wanted you since the Christmas ball in fifth year! Did you expect me to confess that to that idiot Malfoy? Of course, I told him it was mere curiosity. I shouldn't even have taken you out. Why do you think I've been avoiding you for all this time? Do you think I _like_ this feeling? I sodding hate it! I've more important things to do with than lusting after little witches who are too smart for their own good."

Amalthea stared at him dumbstruck. This was not what she had been expecting at all He leaned closer.

"All evening, all I've wanted to do was kiss those damn lips of yours. And I've loathed every moment of it." he whispered.

Amalthea stared at those dark eyes, clouded with desire and frustration.

"I hate you," she whispered.

And kissed him.

* * *

 _ **A/N: I've been meaning to write this chapter for some time, and I'm glad I put it off. This chapter quite literally wrote itself. P.S. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Ethelia is now Lucilla, because she wasn't feeling like an Ethelia. ENJOY.**_


	5. Chapter Five : This Madness Of Mine

_**Disclaimer: All canon content of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling**_

 _ **Chapter Five : This Madness of Mine**_

Thea felt Riddle stiffen with shock as she pressed her lips to his. After a moment's pause, he responded with equal fervor, his hands dropping her wrists as they instead grabbed her waist and pulled her close. His mouth was warm as it alternately caressed and destroyed hers. Their tongues clashed in a battle of wills, and a moan escaped her.

 _This is madness,_ her mind whispered.

She paid it no heed as she put her arms around his neck, her hands stroking his silky dark hair.

 _If this is madness, then let me go insane._

Riddle seemed to agree, as he deepened the kiss with a fervent need that mirrored her own. His hands traveled up her back and tangled in her hair, tugging back her head. Her body felt like it was on fire, as every nerve in it tingled. She felt him lightly bite her lips making her gasp into his mouth.

There was a thud, as Amalthea heard something fall noisily to the floor. She jumped back from Riddle as thought she'd been burned and turned to look at the bright pink face of Hetty Skeeter, a Slytherin second year. A pile of books lay at her feet. Hetty looked mortified to have found two seventh years making out right outside the common room.

"I-I'm sorry." she stammered, "I didn't- I mean.."

Amalthea knew that Hetty's stuttering had nothing to do with her and everything to do with the boy standing next to her. Tom Riddle may have perfected his charming persona, but people still knew not to cross him. She looked at him now; with his hair mussed and a wild glint in his eyes, the icy Head boy was nowhere to be seen. But the person in his place looked no less dangerous, and certainly more unhinged. When he spoke though, his voice was completely calm.

"Well, there's no need to just stand there, Miss Skeeter. Go on inside."

Hetty blushed even harder, and gathered her books from the floor and turned to the entrance.

"Oh, and Miss Skeeter?" said Riddle, softly, "I trust you will not mention this incident to anyone. Otherwise, you may find that I am not a person you should upset."

Hetty gave a little squeak and fled into the common room.

"Did you have to scare her like that?" said Amalthea, irritably.

He faced towards her.

"Would you rather the whole school know that we…"

"Snogged?" asked Thea.

His face wrinkled with distaste at her choice of words.

"Yes. That."

"Absolutely not."

Riddle gave her a cold smile.

"Then yes, Marchbanks. I did have to scare her like that." he replied, pleasantly.

Amalthea fell silent.

"About the kiss." said Riddle, "It did not mean anything so forget about it."

Thea laughed.

"Riddle, if you expect me to believe that you weren't affected by that kiss, you must think me an idiot. You kissed me back. Quite fervently, I might add."

He glared at her. She shrugged, unperturbed.

"Even if it did." he replied, "It doesn't matter, does it? I've already told you I plan to stay far away from you."

"Likewise." she hissed.

"Then what more is there to talk about?"

"Absolutely nothing. Goodnight."

Amalthea swept past Riddle into the common room, where she scanned for the presence of Lucilla. Not spotting her anywhere, she hurried up to her dormitory, which was thankfully empty.

She changed into her nightclothes and climbed into bed, exhausted.

Amalthea had trouble sleeping that night. She couldn't shake Riddle's words from her head.

 _I've wanted you since the Christmas ball in fifth year, you silly girl._

 _All evening, all I've wanted to do was kiss those damn lips of yours._

Thea wasn't a stupid girl. She knew she was by no means repulsive to look at, but neither was she a beauty. She was content with her looks, but she didn't delude herself into think that she was the type boys fought duels over.

Which was why Riddle's confession puzzled her to no end. She still didn't think it excused the horrid things she had overheard him say to his friends, but if they had been lies...

Tom Riddle was not only handsome; he was also the smartest person in their year. He wasn't a bad kisser either. And tonight was the first time that she had felt such strong desire for someone. Maybe-

No. Riddle was the coldest person she had ever met. She could never be with someone who thought showing any sort of emotion was weakness.

She punched her pillow in annoyance. Why was she thinking so hard on this anyway? Riddle had made it very clear that the last think he wanted was to come near her.

He probably hadn't spared her another thought after she had left.

* * *

He couldn't get her out of his thoughts.

The little witch had firmly embedded himself in his mind, much to Tom's disgust. He kept thinking of the kiss, how her body had felt against his, her little moans..

Tom shook his head, trying to forget. There was an important issue he had to look to, and he couldn't be distracted.

He put his hand into the pocket of his robes and drew out a small piece of parchment. He tapped his wand on it and whispered.

" _Vocantemus Sectatores."_

Pocketing the parchment, Tom set off towards the fifth floor. Reaching the portrait of Morgan Le Fay, he knocked three times on the right side and stepped back.

The portrait of Morgan gave a sly smile, and shimmered out of view to reveal a wooden door. Tom pushed it open and entered. They were all there, his loyal followers sitting around a large table.

The first to notice him was Abraxas, who jumped to his feet and bowed.

Lestrange, Rookwood, Nott and the rest followed suit.

Tom said nothing for a minute, surveying them one by one, enough to make them uncomfortable.

"It appears that I have… a problem." he said, softly.

Abraxas paled a little.

"My Lord?"

"It seems that my loyal followers are not as loyal as I would like."

The room was deadly silent.

'You see. I gave express instructions that no action is to be taken till I give the signal. So imagine my surprise. When tonight at Slughorn's party my Eternal Darkness spell was put to use, the spell no one outside this room knows how to use. So tell me, my devoted ones. _Whose thickheaded idea was this.'_

The last sentence was uttered in a deadly hiss, as Tom's eyes turned red. No one spoke up.

"This is the last time. The very last time. That I let such a blatant act of disobedience pass without consequence. The last thing we need is Albus Dumbledore breathing down our necks. We already know he grows suspicious of us. Which is why it is imperative we proceed with caution. Am I understood?"

"Yes, my Lord." they replied in unison.

Taking a seat at the head of the table, Tom spoke.

"Lestrange, is the Dark Mark spell complete? I grow weary of using this parchment method. It is too conspicuous."

"Not yet, my Lord. But soon." replied Lestrange.

"Good. Any other news?"

The meeting passed by without incident, and a very satisfied Tom made his way back to the dungeon after an hour. Everything was going according to plan; soon he'd be graduating from Hogwarts, and he already had an idea of what to do for the Horcruxes thanks to that idiot Slughorn.

Everything was in place. Now all he had to do was stay away from Amalthea Marchbanks, and all would be as it should be.

* * *

The next morning Amalthea woke to see Lucilla sitting on the side of her bed.

"Good morning." said Lucilla, serenely.

Lucilla's inquiring gaze brought back the memories of the night before rushing back.

She covered her face with her pillow and groaned.

"Ikshdim."

"I beg your pardon?" asked Lucilla, amused.

"I kissed him." moaned Amalthea.

Lucilla looked at her shocked.

"Amalthea!"

"Thea."

"What?"

"Call me Thea. I hate my name. Amalthea sounds like a snobby princess." she said, poking her face from underneath the pillow.

"Thea, then." Lucilla smiled. It became obvious however that she would not be distracted. "Would you like to tell me why exactly you kissed the one person you just last night professed to loathe with your entire being?"

"I don't know! It just happened. One minute I was yelling at him for being a prat, the next he was yelling back at me about being attracted to me and I just-"

"Hold on a minute. Riddle confessed to being attracted to you?!" interjected Lucilla, shocked.

"Well, yes."

A huge smile spread across Lucilla's face.

"I suppose our plan last night was completely unneeded then." she chuckled.

"It's not funny." mumbled Thea.

"Why ever not?" she asked, surprised.

"Because I'm attracted to him too!"

Lucilla finally fell silent.

"I know, I know. It's completely idiotic!" Thea moaned, "I don't even like him!"

Lucilla was about to reply, when Thea spotted Salazaria entering. She shook her head at Lucilla, signaling her to not say anything. Salazaria spotted the two of them sitting on the bed.

"Well isn't this cute. Since when did you two become best mates?" she sneered. "Shouldn't you be heading to the pitch, Marchbanks? Or did they finally kick you out of the team?"

"Oh Merlin, the match!" Thea yelped, scrambling out of bed.

She rushed to the bathroom and after a hasty shower she got dressed and ran down to the pitch, Lucilla on her heels.

Once down, Lucilla wished her good luck and went to go sit with the Slytherin crowd in the stands.

Thea rushed into the locker room to find everyone listening to the captain, Darius Harper's pre-match speech.

"You're late, Marchbanks." scowled Harper. "Alright then, team. Time to go beat those Hufflepuff tossers."

The team cheered and they all strode onto the pitch.

The referee, Madam Loretta, stood in the middle of the pitch.

"Now let's all try to have a foul-free game." she said, "Mount your brooms please."

She blew her whistle and Thea rose into the air, relishing the feeling of rising far above the ground as the wind whipped her hair across her face. As Seeker, she really didn't have much to do till she spotted the Snitch, so she glided above the two teams, as Gavin DeLancey's voice came, commentating for the match.

"And Slytherin has the Quaffle, Harper passes to Nott, back to Harper again. Abbott blocks him; she's got the Quaffle and is headed to the goalpost- HUFFLEPUFF SCORES!"

Twenty minutes later, the score was Hufflepuff – 50 to Slytherin – 30.

Thea cursed and swerved around looking for the Snitch. She saw a glint of gold below and dove. The Hufflepuff seeker, Serenity Wimple followed suit. Thea accelerated, her arm outstretched. She saw the Snitch clearly now. Her hand reached out, but as soon as her fingers closed around the Snitch, she felt something hit her and everything went black.

* * *

Tom hated Quidditch matches. They were noisy and crowded and a complete waste of his time. But he had to attend them to preserve his image of the perfect Head boy.

Which was why he sat in the stands watching the match with bored disinterest. He shifted his attention to where Marchbanks hovered above the two teams, searching for the Snitch.

As Gavin DeLancey commentated, Tom remembered how the oaf had had his filthy paw on Amalthea's shoulder at the party.

He cursed. He didn't understand why he was getting so angry. The little witch did not matter to him. She couldn't.

Amalthea's delicate face flashed in his mind. Her stormy grey eyes that glinted when she was angry. The bow shaped mouth that had kissed him with such passion.

Tom wasn't the type to lie to himself. He was tired of putting in the effort to stay away from her. He wanted Amalthea Marchbanks, and he wanted her all to himself. And once he made up his mind, nothing stopped him. She would be his.

A minute later, it became apparent that Amalthea had spotted something, as she dropped into a sharp dive followed by the Hufflepuff seeker. Even with his contempt for Quidditch, he reluctantly admired her masterful control of a broom.

He watched as she reached out for the snitch and-

A jet of red light shot out from his right and hit her side as soon as she grabbed the snitch.

His chest seemed to clench with a queer feeling as he watched her tumble off her broom.

 _ **No.**_

Before he knew what he was doing, he shot to his feet. Whipping out his wand, he shouted out a spell to halt her fall and gently lowered her to the ground. All around him, he could hear people screaming and yelling. DeLancey was announcing that Slytherin had won, but no one paid him any heed as teachers sprinted onto the pitch.

Tom barely registered the din. He felt murderous as he looked around trying to figure out who shot the spell. Whoever it was would pay. He had decided that Amalthea Marchbanks would be his.

And no one messed with what was his.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Vocantemus was a slight twist on the Latin word for calling. And Sectatores is Latin for followers.I am extremely nervous about this chapter so please give it a review! Feedback would be appreciated. Thank you all for reading!**_


	6. Chapter Six : Catch Me I'm Falling

**_Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling._**

 _ **Chapter Six : Catch Me I'm Falling**_

" _Sit up straight Amalthea, do not slouch."_

 _Thea blushed and straightened. The dinner table was crowded with her parents' friends which meant that the flurry of conversation made sure no one heard her father reprimand her._

 _He looked down at the table and frowned._

" _Amalthea I thought I told you to tell Biddy to serve lamb today."_

" _No Father, you told me to-"_

" _SILENCE." he thundered. "Do not talk back to me, Amalthea Marchbanks."_

 _Mortified, Amalthea meekly nodded. There was no doubt that everyone had heard THAT._

" _I apologize, Father."_

"Amalthea."

 _That voice was not her father's._

"Amathea, wake up."

 _It sounded so very familiar, though…_

Groaning, Thea forced her eyes to open. Why was her bedroom so white? Come to think of it, why was she in her bedroom, instead of at Hogwarts?

"Where am I?" she croaked.

"Hospital wing." she heard the reply.

She turned her head to look at Tom Riddle sitting beside her.

"What are you doing here? And why am I in the hospital wing?"

He looked at her, surprised.

"You don't remember? You got knocked off your broom during the Quidditch match."

At his words, a rush of memories overtook Thea.

"I was…Stunned, I think." she said, slowly.

She was surprised to see his eyes darken as if…but he couldn't be. No. Tom Riddle would never be angry on her behalf.

"You still haven't told me what you are doing here."

"Mr. Riddle here saved you from quite a nasty fall."

Madam Leonard emerged from her office, and began bustling around her, straightening her sheets, fluffing her pillows.

Thea hardly paid her any attention, her gaze glued on the boy in front of her.

"You saved me from falling?"

"I suppose I did." he said with a shrug.

For once, that shrug did not make Thea want to smack him across the head. She waited till Madam Leonard was out of sight to say more.

"Why?" she asked, quietly.

He didn't pretend to misunderstand her meaning.

"Because I wanted to."

Thea felt herself turn pink.

"Th-that's.. _Don't lie to me_."

He tilted his head and gave her a curious look.

"I am not. I saved you because I didn't want you to fall. That's all there is to it." he chuckled, "Well almost all."

"What do you mean." asked Thea, suspiciously.

"It means that I would like you to consider going out with me." he said with a crooked smile.

Heart hammering, Thea jerked back.

"You're-you're insane." she stammered. "There is no way I would ever go out with you again, Riddle."

Reaching out, he pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. Without realizing what she was doing, Thea leaned into his touch.

Riddle gave a satisfied smile, and she realized she'd walked straight into his trap. Turning even redder, she pulled away from his touch, and turned her head away.

"I don't know what you're so upset about." came his voice.

She looked at him, incredulously, and he hastened to explain.

"What I mean, is that I essentially am telling you that I am attracted to you for reasons I am still unable to comprehend. And since both of us know the feeling is mutual, what exactly is the problem here?"

"The problem is that you're an arrogant, egotistical prat who tricked me into going out with him once before, and then said cruel things behind my back.

"I already told you, I did that to get Malfoy off my back." he said, lazily.

"That does not make it okay!"

Riddle rose to his feet.

"We'll talk about it again soon," he said, as he strode towards the exit, "Oh, and Amalthea?"

" _What?"_

 _"_ You can start calling me Tom, instead of Riddle."

And with a wink, he swept out of the hospital wing, leaving her sputtering behind him.

Thea leaned back into her pillows, shaking her head in disbelief at his gall. Unconsciously she tugged on the strand of hair he had brushed back, her cheeks turning pink at the memory.

Madam Leonard approached Thea with some chocolate in her hands.

"Here dear, have some of this." said the kindly matron, "Did Mr. Riddle leave already? I must say, curious as it sounds, I have never seen him as upset as he was when he barged in here with you. He wouldn't let anyone else touch you, aside from me. Muttered something about the perils of incompetent fools, and botched healings."

She gave Thea a knowing smile.

Thea looked at her, shocked.

 _Tom had..?_

"Your friend, Miss Black was here too, earlier. She left a little while before you came to." said Madam Leonard, "I imagine she'll be back soon."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"About eight hours, dear. I recommend getting some more sleep. You might not have hit the ground, but the shock of the fall hasn't worn off yet."

"Did-did anyone figure out who shot that spell?" she asked, hesitantly.

Madam Leonard pursed her lips.

"No. But I am sure the Headmaster will see that they get punished. What an absolutely terrible thing to do! Why if Mr. Riddle hadn't reacted so quickly…."

As the matron went on with her tirade, Thea felt her lids became heavy, and soon enough, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Thea woke up two hours later and found Lucilla sitting next to her.

"Thea!" exclaimed Lucilla. "You're awake! Madam Leonard said you woke up a while ago but went back to sleep."

"Hello Lucilla." smiled Thea.

"You gave everyone quite a fright, Thea! If Riddle hadn't shot that spell…"

"He was here earlier."

"Riddle?"

"Yes."

Lucilla bit her lip, as though debating whether to tell her something.

"What is it Lucilla?" asked Thea, "Did something happen?"

"He was so _mad_. Riddle." she whispered, "I've never seen him like that. He wasn't yelling or anything like that. But his eyes…those _eyes_ , Thea. It's like he wanted to kill someone."

Thea swallowed. First Madam Leonard, now Lucilla. They seemed to think Tom _cared_ about her.

"You said he was here earlier?" Lucilla asked. "Did he say anything?"

"N-nothing much." said Thea.

"You're _blushing._ " said Lucilla, shocked. "What exactly happened in here?"

"Nothing! Tom was just acting weird." realizing what she'd just blurted out, Thea clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Tom, eh?" smirked Lucilla.

"It-it just slipped out, alright! It's not what you think."

"Enlighten me."

Sighing defeated, Thea related everything Tom had said to her. After she was finished, Lucilla leaned back and stared at her thoughtfully.

"So he only said those things about you because of that idiot Malfoy? Not that that excuses what he said, of course, but it does put a different light on things. What do you plan on doing then?"

"Nothing! I may be insanely attracted to him, but he has the emotional intelligence of a rock!" said Thea, flustered.

"I don't think that's quite true. I used to think that was the case, but after what happened at the match…"

Thea shook her head.

"You're wrong." she said stubbornly, "Tom Riddle feels nothing at all for me, except perhaps a smidgen of carnal attraction."

Lucilla gave her a wicked look.

"Then why don't you go for it?" she said.

"What?" Thea gasped.

"You think he's incredibly attractive, he's clearly lusting after you. No deeper feelings on either side. So why don't you just…see where it goes? You told me you had a good time on your first date. Go for it."

Thea fell silent.

"I don't know. I am sure he will forget about this stupid attraction soon and then I can just go back to my normal life. It'll be as simple as that."

* * *

It wasn't as simple as that.

If Thea had thought Tom was charming before, it was nothing compared to what he was doing now. It seemed as though he was pulling all the stops to make her fall for him. He somehow managed to sit next to her in every class, which distracted her to no end, as her eyes kept wandering to his chiseled profile. To make things worse, he kept leaving the most stupid, _adorable_ little gifts. She found ice roses on her Charms desk, tiny golden butterflies emerged when she opened her Potions textbook, and one day she found a box in her dorm bed containing a copy of _The Enchanted Tales of Fairyleaf,_ a book she had been looking for since sixth year ( a piece of information which she had _no idea_ how he knew.)

All these little gifts were accompanied with little notes with the initials _T.R._ written in cursive. So there was little doubt as to who was doing all this. To add insult to the injury, he was _flirting_ with her as well, and seemed undaunted by her frosty replies.

Entering the Great Hall, Thea sat at the Slytherin table for dinner, mulling over her thoughts.

"Sulking, are we?" said a familiar voice.

She groaned. Merlin, that boy was a bloody _shadow._

He chuckled at her response, and took a seat next to her, oblivious to the glares Thea was getting from a large number of the Hogwarts female population.

"Oh do go away." mumbled Thea.

"Now, now Thea, is that any way to greet a friend?"

Thea snorted.

"We're not friends, Tom. Since when do you call me Thea anyway?"

"Since I decided you should stop calling me Riddle," he said in an amused voice, "And I see we've progressed to Tom. I count that as an achievement."

Thea mentally cursed. This was the second time she'd slipped up and called him that.

"Yes, well, an unfortunate accident. Leave me alone."

"There's something in your hair." said Tom, nodding at her brown waves.

She lifted her hand to her hair and drew out a piece of parchment. As she furrowed her brow in confusion, the paper began to glow and float, bursting to give way to tiny silver lights.

Shegasped in wonder at the sight. She looked up to see Tom smirking, and despite herself, she felt her cheeks turn warm.

"That was very pretty." she said, hesitantly.

"Enough to make you change your mind about us?"

"In your dreams, Riddle." she replied, but the effect of her words was dulled by her shy grin.

He shrugged, undaunted.

"I'm a determined man."

She rolled her eyes, feeling no anger at his arrogant words.

 _This was bad._

She could feel her resolve weakening with every charming word and delightful gift. She was sure that there was no deeper emotion behind his odd behavior, other than mere attraction. Not to mention an obstinate need to get his way all the bloody time.

 _So what? It isn't like you have any deep feelings for him._

"So lovely Amalthea, what will it be?"

Thea took a deep breath.

"I'll consider it."

 _ **A/N : And that's all for chapter six, guys! The story is picking up a little here and the romance is coming to the forefront. Tom's POV in the next chapter. Just another reminder; guys remember this is PRE HORCRUX Tom, so he may seem a little OOC but that's just because we haven't really seen much of that side of him. And of course like I said before, he is mentioned as being extremely charming when he wants something so keep that in mind. I know a lot of Tom Riddle fics like to portray Tom as cold and emotionless all the time, but that isn't what I wanted to go for. As always, please. REVIEW. It helps me write. Thank you!**_


	7. Chapter Seven : Running From My Heart

**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling**.

 _ **Chapter Seven : Running From My Heart**_

Tom Riddle was in a good mood. It didn't happen often, and he had to say it was a pleasant change. His plans were once again back on track, with everything as it should be; Lestrange had perfected the new communications spell, Slughorn had spilled his guts about the Horcruxes already, and now it seemed like his little witch was caving too.

He looked over to where Thea was sitting, bent over her desk with her brow furrowed as she tried to Transfigure her music box into a peacock. With her hair up in a bun and neck angled to the side, she made for quite a charming sight. He smirked as she groaned loudly and poked the music box vigorously; causing sparks to fly from her wand. Suddenly, there was a loud bang and Tom found himself looking at a very irate Thea with….peacock feathers for hair.

He felt an unfamiliar sensation build up in his chest and-

" _Pfft_."

And for the first time in his life, Tom Riddle found himself laughing.

Thea heard the laugh and swung her head back, a murderous look on her face. The anger turned to astonishment as she saw who the culprit was. Her face seemed to soften, and she smiled; the rest of the class staring in shock as the icily perfect Tom Riddle gave in to laughter.

 _What is happening to me?_

 _Am I really going that soft as to laugh over a stupid magical mistake?_

The thought seemed to sober him, and he stopped laughing immediately. Aware of everyone's eyes on him, he muttered a spell at his music box under his breath, and a peacock appeared in front of him. He looked up to see Albus Dumbledore looking at him; and for the first time since they met at the orphanage, Dumbledore's eyes shone with a twinkle as he looked at Tom.

Tom averted his eyes, slightly unnerved, and not just a little annoyed with himself. He saw Thea Transfigure her hair back to normal, and finally get the incantation right. Throwing away all thoughts of talking to her, he swept out of the room as soon as class ended.

"Tom! Tom, wait!"

Thea came running up to him, her cheeks suspiciously pink.

"What is it, Marchbanks?"

He saw her wince in surprise at his harsh tone, and the use of her surname.

Nevertheless, she went on.

"I have my answer. Yes. Yes, I…accept."

He blinked in surprise. This was certainly not what he had expected.

"And what, may I ask, brought about this change of heart?"

"You laughed."

 _This girl just kept getting more confusing every time._

He had no idea why she was bringing up his…lapse in character. She hurried on to explain.

"I didn't want to go out with you, because I thought you were just a cold, emotionless person with no emotional depth. However, today you…you laughed like that over something really silly and I...I'm starting to think I was wrong. So, I would like to give this…give _us_ a go."

 _You're wrong, little witch. I am exactly what you thought I was before._

He didn't say that out loud though, because he wasn't the self-sacrificial type.

"Ahh, Thea. Honest as always, I see. I confess it's rather charming." he murmured, as she shyly ducked her face at his words.

"So I guess we're together now."

Tom looked at her stuttering, feeling oddly charmed.

"Yes, I suppose we are."

Unbeknownst to them, a figure in the corner eavesdropped on their exchange. As soon as they finished, the figure turned and hurried to the dungeons, into the Slytherin common room, to report what he had heard.

* * *

It was past midnight when Tom silently made his way to the fifth floor, for the meeting. Lestrange had sent a note to him saying that the spell was complete, and he was anxious to start putting it to use.

He entered the portrait room, to find all his followers already seated. Taking his place at the head of the table, he turned towards Lestrange.

"The spell?"

"Ah yes, my Lord. It is done. You can try it out on a piece of parchment beforehand. The only difference will be that you can Vanish it from the parchment later, but on a wizard it will stay."

Tom smiled, coldly.

"Excellent. What was the spell?"

Lestrange uttered the words almost inaudibly.

Tom took out his wand and pointed it at the parchment.

" _Appari Tenebris."_ he whispered.

Nothing happened.

He tried it again, to no avail. Tom felt a rush of anger and he turned to Lestrange.

"What is the meaning of this?" he hissed.

"I-I do not know my Lord. I made sure that everything was perfect! The only way it could fail was if..."

"Well? What is it?" snapped Tom.

"Once the spell is perfected, the one who Summons must rid his heart of all emotion. Only then will the spell work properly. So…"

He fell silent, for to say out loud that Lord Voldemort still had room for caring in his heart, was akin to suicide.

Tom heard the unspoken words however, and they enraged him.

"There must be something wrong with the spell." he said, with icy calm.

There was no way he cared for anything other than his goal.

 _Stormy grey eyes that lit up with passion and anger._

He was above all feeble sentiments.

 _A shy smile that made him stare in fascination._

He was immovable.

 _A body falling from the sky, his heart sinking._

He was Lord Voldemort.

 _Thea._

* * *

Thea woke up the next morning, in a surprisingly good mood. She whistled under her breath as she got ready in the not-so-empty dorm. She could feel the eyes of Salazaria and her friends on her, which she ignored. She was quite surprised that Salazaria hadn't cornered her about her relationship with Tom yet.

Then again, they had just agreed to go out just yesterday…

Thea felt her mind wander to the moment when she had turned around to give the person who laughed an earful, only to find the wondrous sight of the stone-hearted Tom Riddle doubled up with laughter. Her heart had given a painful little squeeze, and that was when she knew that she couldn't run away from him anymore.

A pull on her arm pulled her back to reality, and she found herself looking at the stony face of Salazaria Rosewood. Thea sighed, bracing herself for a tirade.

"Yes, Salazaria?"

To her astonishment, Salazaria turned pink, as she looked away from Thea.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior that day. Riddle isn't my boyfriend, and I gave you a hard time for no reason."

Thea blinked. This was _definitely_ not what she had expected.

"Ah...that's okay." she said.

"It's just, you made me so _mad._ " Salazaria burst out.

"Mad? Why?" asked Thea, in surprise.

"You always seemed like you were looking down on all of us! You never spoke a word, kept yourself aloof. It was extremely vexing! So when I heard about your date with Riddle, I jumped to the conclusion that you thought you were too good for us, and that's why you set your sights on only him."

'However, you seem…different now. I've seen you stand up to Riddle, you've gotten closer to Black, you even fell off a bloody broom and didn't complain even once.

'So…I guess what I'm trying to say is…You're not a bad witch to be around, Marchbanks. I might even admire you a little.'

Thea stared at her, still in shock.

"Salazaria…" she breathed, "I don't know what to say…"

Salazaria tossed her long raven hair over her shoulder and glared.

"D-don't get the wrong idea, it's not like we're just magically going to be mates now, alright? I still can't mostly stand you."

Thea smiled at her, understandingly. She knew how difficult it must have been for a proud person like Salazaria to say all this.

"I understand. Thank you for telling me."

"Don't thank me. Thank Dahlia. She's the one who convinced me to talk to you."

With that, Salazaria flounced out of the room.

"Wow." Thea heard Lucilla whisper from behind her. "Do you think she's under the Imperius Curse?"

Thea laughed, as she pulled her wavy brown hair into a messy bun.

"Tom Riddle laughing, Salazaria Rosewood apologizing… Do you suppose the sky will fall next?" she asked her friend, and they both collapsed into giggles.

"So." said Lucilla, linking her arm with Thea's, as they made their way down the staircase, "You and Riddle are a couple, now?

"Yes, we are." said Thea, softly.

They entered the Great Hall for breakfast, heading towards the Slytherin table. Lucilla nudged Thea towards where Tom was sitting, apparently deep in thought.

"Go sit with him." she whispered, loudly.

Thea laughed, nervously.

"No, I'll just sit right here."

She saw Tom look up and his gaze sharpened on her.

"Marchbanks, I need a word with you after breakfast." he called out.

Thea flushed, as everyone's eyes turned to her. Nodding in agreement, she sat down hurriedly, her gaze glued to the table.

Sure, she had agreed to give him a chance, but what exactly were they now? How was she supposed to act around him? Maybe he'd changed his mind..?

Lost in her thoughts, Thea finished eating, and looked up to find Tom's eyes on her. He motioned to her to come with him and she stood up, her heart thumping wildly. She followed him out the Great Hall, as he climbed the staircase onto the second floor.

"So what was it you wanted to talk abou-"

Before she could finish her question, Tom grabbed her wrist and pulled her into an empty classroom, slamming the door behind him. He pushed her against the wall, covering her lips with his. She moaned slightly as his arms went around her waist, half lifting her up. She returned the kiss fervently as her hands stroked his hair. They stayed like that till they were both out of breath, and they pulled apart, breathing heavily.

Tom rested his forehead on hers, looking into her eyes with an odd look on his face.

"What spell have you put on me?" he murmured.

Thea felt her knees go weak at his statement, as she struggled to form a coherent sentence.

"I don't know what you're talking about." she whispered.

He looked at her for a long moment.

"No you don't, do you?" he said at last.

Thea shook her head at him.

"You can be so strange sometimes."

"Better strange than dull, wouldn't you agree?"

She snorted in reply.

"So...Hogsmeade is next weekend," she said slowly, "Do you want to go together?'"

"Hold on, is it not me who should be asking you?" said Tom in an amused voice

Thea scowled.

"On second thought, I changed my mind. I'll just go alone." she snapped, and headed towards the door.

Tom followed her out the classroom and she could practically _see_ him smirking behind her back.

"Quite a temper you've got, Amalthea. Would you like me to prepare you a batch of Calming Draughts?"

"Why, you-"

A cough interrupted them, and they both looked around to see Professor Dumbledore standing behind them.

"I hate to interrupt your little exchange," he said in an amused voice, "But I am afraid you're blocking the way to my classroom."

Thea hastily moved to the side, pulling Tom with her. Professor Dumbledore's eyes seemed to rest upon the spot where her hand rested on his arm, and he gave a curious little smile.

In contrast, she felt Tom go rigid beside her, and she looked at him to see a stony look on his face. Did he dislike Professor Dumbledore? It was hard to imagine _anyone_ disliking the kind Transfiguration teacher.

Nodding to them both, Dumbledore swept into the classroom and closed the door.

They made their way to the dungeons in silence; she felt like Tom was not really in the mood to make conversation and so she too stayed quiet. Once outside the Potions classroom, she put her hand on his shoulder.

"Wait, Tom. Is something wrong?" she asked. "You were fine a while ago but now you seem a little off. Is it Professor Dumbledore? Do you not like him? What-"

"For Merlin's sake, Amalthea, do be quiet. I don't see why it's any of your business, and quite honestly your inquisitiveness is extremely annoying." he replied harshly.

Thea drew back in shock, and hurt. He looked so _cold._ She'd heard that Tom could sometimes be frightening, but even after everything they'd been through; he'd never been this…this cruel, not to her.

She clenched her fists, and without uttering another word she hurried into the classroom.

* * *

 _Merlin, that bloody idiot is begging to be tortured,_ thought Tom, as he watched DeLancey flirt with Thea. The only thing sparing his life was that Thea was not reciprocating his advances; rather she looked strained and annoyed.

She hadn't said a word to him after he'd snapped at her. She'd just looked at him in shock, those large grey eyes filled with hurt, and then walked away. She'd proceeded to choose DeLancey to partner with, and the buffoon had been constantly leering at her throughout.

He scowled inwardly. It seemed like his little witch needed to understand that he did not like to share. Thea was his, and he would make that point clear to her soon.

"Tom, m'boy! How's your potion going?"

Tom plastered on his Headboy smile and looked at Slughorn.

"Perfectly, sir."

"Well, I wouldn't expect anything less from my top student! Say, Tom-"

Whatever Slughorn was going to say was drowned out by a scream. Tom looked towards the direction of the yell, and his blood ran cold.

Thea lay on the floor, unmoving, her hair spread out.

He knocked over his chair, as he ran to where she lay. He felt around and found her pulse; it was extremely faint, but still there.

" _What the bloody hell happened."_ he hissed at DeLancey.

"I don't know! One minute she was just standing there sniffing her potion and the next..."

Tom turned to Slughorn.

"Professor, I think her potion is poisoned." he said, sharply.

Slughorn turned pale and waved his wand over Thea's potion. A red wisp of smoke emerged.

"Bloodroot." whispered Slughorn, aghast.

Tom cursed. Not only was Bloodroot was one of the deadliest poisons known, it also had a reputation of being extremely fast to spread. If Thea wasn't given an antidote, she would die in the next minute.

A flash of Thea's hurt face came to his mind, as he told her she was annoying. He cursed again. Damn that girl, when had she gotten under his skin so thoroughly?

"Someone get a bezoar from the cupboard. _**Now.**_ "

He didn't know who got the bezoar; his gaze was firmly rooted to the pale girl in his arms. A bezoar was pushed into his hands and he unceremoniously shoved it down her throat.

He stood up with Thea in his arms.

"Sir, I'm going to take Amalthea to the hospital wing."

"Of course, of course, Tom." blustered Slughorn, obviously still in shock.

Tom half walked, half ran to the hospital wing.

"Madam Leonard?" he called.

The matron emerged from her office and spying Thea in his arms, hurried forward immediately.

"She was poisoned." said Tom, "I gave her the bezoar but…"

"Lay her down on a bed." she said, "You already gave her the bezoar, you say? Good work. I'll go fetch the potion. You stay by her."

Tom looked down to where Thea lay, emotions warring within him.

She made him feel too much; any more of this and she'd make him weak. He despised weakness in any form, and it was intolerable in him. And yet… he hadn't let her die, even though that would have solved all this confusion raging inside.

 _Why? Why did he feel the need to save this girl so strongly, when in fact he should kill her himself for making him feel this way?_

* * *

 _ **A/N : Hmmm déjà vu at the end, anyone? I'm being really cruel to Thea, apologies hehe. Seems like she ends up in Hospital wing a lot. So this is chapter seven and I am so surprised I made it this far. This was supposed to be a oneshot or at the very most, five chapters. But this story quite literally writes itself. To everyone who has reviewed THANK YOU SO MUCH. Especially the Guest Reviewer; Ivet, I notice you 3**_

 _ **To those who haven't guys PLEASE DO. Encouragement is crucial for me to write more, so please. It's free and it only takes a minute hehe!**_


	8. Chapter Eight : Tale As Old As Time

_**Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Chapter Eight: Tale As Old As Time_**

It had been a week.

A bloody week since Thea had been poisoned, and she still had yet to wake up. It made him furious over her being hurt and angrier still to realize he cared that she was.

 _Affection is weakness_ , he reminded himself.

And yet…that phrase did not have the impact it used to, anymore. Increasingly, he felt like it was just a mantra he kept having to repeat to make sure his walls stayed intact. He gave himself a mental shake; was becoming increasingly maudlin these days. He was not sure if it was because of Thea or because this was his last year at Hogwarts; in any case, he needed to get his mind more focused on his goals. He had another meeting tonight and there were a few important things he needed to discuss with his loyal followers.

 _Followers._

For the first time, Tom felt a twinge of distaste at the word.

He heard an echo of Thea's words in his mind; words she had spoken during their werewolf rights debate.

 _People aren't pawns, Tom. You can't just decide who gets rights, and who doesn't. Every human being has their own identity, people are not sheep._

Tom wondered what Thea would think of his grand plans. It wasn't hard to figure out- she'd no doubt be appalled since his little witch had quite the moral compass. Which was exactly why she couldn't know anything, not yet.

Not until he made sure she'd never leave no matter what he did.

Entering the hospital wing, he made his way to Thea's bed. He had visited her every day since the poisoning without fail; not because he cared about her overmuch of course. It was simply the fact that she was now his, and he protected what was his.

Absently, he took hold of her pale hand, stroking it softly with his thumb.

"It's high time you woke up, little witch." he murmured. "It really is not the same when I don't get to torment you."

"Back again, Mr. Riddle?"

Tom looked up to see Madam Leonard smiling at him.

"When do you think she'll regain consciousness?" he inquired.

Madam Leonard sighed.

"I don't know for certain. In most cases, such quick administration of a bezoar would have the victim make a quick recovery, however, Bloodroot is one of the deadliest poisons known…and since it spreads very fast, there's a lot to be flushed out from her system."

Tom looked at Thea's pale face and clenched his fists. Thea was passion and fire and emotion; this ghostlike wraith did not look like his spirited witch at all. He hated just looking at her.

Madam Leonard glanced at him, sympathetically.

"Her fever has broken though, so that's something to be grateful for."

Tom did not deign to reply to what he considered an abysmal statement. He would not be satisfied until Thea had woken up. He fixed his gaze on the slim white hand he held and, unthinkingly lifted it to his lips. With a jolt he realized Madam Leonard must have seen his action and he swerved around only to find that the matron had disappeared back into her office.

He let go of Thea's hand and stood up. It was time he found out who was doing this, and make them regret ever touching her.

* * *

An hour later, Tom sat with his most loyal Death Eaters; Abraxas Malfoy, Dorian Rookwood and Raughber Lestrange, in their place of meeting.

Abraxas spoke up first.

"You asked for us, my Lord? How may we be of assistance?"

"Tell me, Abraxas. Do you know of the poisoning incident involving Amalthea Marchbanks?"

"Yes, my Lord"

Tom idly stroked his wand.

"I find myself…in need of Miss Marchbanks for reasons I prefer not to disclose. And because of that, I find myself quite irked at this attack on her life.

I want to know who exactly is behind this attack, as well as the Quidditch incident sometime prior."

Tom raised his face to look at them in the eyes.

"That is where you come in. I want you three to investigate, and report back any information you may find on this. I have chosen you three only, because the less people who know, the fainter the chance of the perpetrator getting alerted and hiding his tracks. Am I understood?"

"Yes, my Lord." they replied in unison.

"Good. You may leave."

As the trio left, Tom remained seated in his chair. Soon he would know who was behind these attacks, Thea would wake up, and he could finally be rid of this tight feeling in his chest. Sighing, he got up and walked around the room perusing the portraits on the wall. He paused before a portrait of his ancestor, Salazar Slytherin. The founder's face was twisted in a scowl, with a snake wrapped around the staff he held.

For some reason the painting was not alive as most portraits in the wizarding world were wont to be. Quite a pity, that. Considering that portraits reflect the power of the wizard or witch painted, he could have gotten valuable information from a great wizard such as Salazar Slytherin.

He wondered if the Slytherin Founder had known of the Horcruxes. Surely he would have created some if he had? He brushed his wand against the painting.

" _Such a waste_ ", he murmured in Parseltongue.

He turned his back on the portrait and started walking towards the door.

"Who are you calling a waste, boy?" came a deep voice from behind him.

Tom swirled to spot the source of the voice and found himself looking at the portrait of Salazar Slytherin glaring at him.

"You're alive?" he asked slowly, approaching the painting.

"In a manner of speaking." said the portrait, idly.

"How long have you been able to talk? We've been holding meetings here for quite a while now, but you've never said a word before."

Ignoring his question, the founder stroked his beard slowly.

"Come closer, boy. I would like to take a better look at my heir."

Tom took a step back.

"How did you know I'm your heir?" he asked suspiciously.

Slytherin gave him a cold smile.

"Is it not obvious? I can only respond if the painting comes in contact one who can speak Parseltongue. Not just any speaker of Parseltongue; a descendant of the Slytherin line.

Now, tell me; what was all that about something being a waste."

Tom could hardly believe his good fortune. Not only did he get to talk to the founder of the noble house of Slytherin, but it seemed as if the charm on the portrait was strong enough contain a small portion of the essence of Salazar Slytherin.

"Founder, do you know of the Horcruxes?"

Tom was surprised to see Slytherin's face darken.

"Where did a child like you hear about the Horcruxes?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

Feeling a twinge of annoyance at being called a child, Tom answered.

"From someone here at Hogwarts; anyway, so if you knew about the Horcruxes, why did you never make any?"

"You ask the wrong question, young heir. The question is not why I never made Horcruxes, it is why _anyone_ would want to make a Horcrux. My thirst for power was great, but to tear apart one's soul…. No, that is a repugnant thing indeed."

Tom frowned.

"You call this repugnant but… what about the chamber? The Basilisk? You talk of boundaries when you single handedly devised a surefire way to eradicate Muggleborns from Hogwarts."

The founder sighed, and even in the portrait he seemed to age a bit.

"You do not understand. Like everyone, you think of my hatred for Muggleborns as prejudice stemming from the belief of being superior. Even back then, only Rowena knew the real reason why I never wanted to admit them into the school we made.

'You cannot fathom the conditions of the wizarding community in those days. Witch-hunts were on the rise, innocent Healers were burnt for helping sick Muggles; neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend.

Hogwarts was to be a sanctuary, and to admit those who had caused us to need that sanctuary seemed to me a foolish idea. However, the other founders convinced me I worried for nothing, and so I relented."

The founder paused, seeming lost in thought.

"What changed?" asked Tom quietly.

Slytherin scowled.

"It was sometime after Hogwarts was formally established; a Muggleborn sixth year from Rowena's house told her she had some issues with her family relating to magic, and she asked Rowena to come smooth things over. Rowena agreed of course; she would never refuse help to a child, especially one from Ravenclaw. However it had been a trap. As soon as Rowena entered the house, she was knocked unconscious and captured.

As luck would have had it though, Rowena's eagle had been with her at the time, and the bird flew back to the castle to alert us. Godric and Helga were occupied, but I received the message and I set out immediately.

'They had her tied to a stake." he said grimly. "I got there just in time. Freed her from the stake and Apparated out of there. But from then on I swore I would never trust a Muggle or Muggleborn again."

Tom frowned.

"There is one thing I don't understand. Why didn't she just use magic to get out of there?"

"Rowena may not have been a bleeding heart like Helga, but she still had a soft spot for Muggles. She tried to reason with them at first, when they captured her. They took away her wand but of course that was no impediment to a witch like Rowena. However, as she was trying to convince them to let her go, they poisoned her; and so it was too late for her to use magic to escape. So you see, in the end it was her trust and goodwill that caused her to almost die." hissed Slytherin.

"What did you do to the Muggles?"

"I killed them." spat Slytherin. "I killed them for daring to lay a hand on her. My only regret is that I couldn't make them suffer more."

A sudden realization dawned on Tom.

"You…you loved her." he said, aghast.

The founder sighed heavily.

"Maybe I did, young heir. I do not see how that matters though.

After she got over the shock, Rowena asked me not to mention the incident to anyone; she did not want further prejudice against Muggleborns in Hogwarts. And so I kept it a secret; even Godric and Helga never knew what had happened.

But I could never forget. I saw what they did to her. I saw her at the stake, flames at her feet. I swore to protect our kind from them; what had happened to Rowena would never happen to a Hogwarts student. But the other founders did not share my views about expelling Muggleborns, and so I left. But before I did, I built the chamber and left the Basilisk there, so one day, my heir would protect Hogwarts using the tools I left."

"I opened the chamber once already. A few years ago." said Tom, with a measure of pride. "So it did come in use after all, you see?"

"You did what?" asked Slytherin sharply. "What in Merlin's name was so disastrous that you felt the need to open the chamber?"

Tom furrowed his brow in confusion.

"I do not understand. Is that not what you wanted? I thought you would be please to know your wishes were carried out."

The founder shook his head and sighed.

"The chamber and Basilisk became my greatest regret near the end of my life. I had been rash and impetuous. After the witch hunts stopped and our kind started living in peace, I knew I had made a mistake."

He smiled darkly.

"Do not get me wrong, I still hated Muggles. But I regretted losing my friends, and the woman I…loved, over hatred for their pathetic kind. They were never worth the loss that I inflicted upon myself."

The portrait looked at Tom seriously.

"Earlier you mentioned the Horcruxes. Listen to me well, young heir. Forget about them, they are not worth your soul. For you will lose all humanity once you make them. Do not let power and hate blind you like it did me."

Tom shook his head.

"With all due respect Founder, I think you were just too afraid to seek more." replied Tom, coolly. "I am not like you, I would never fall prey to a weakness like love."

Slytherin's gaze hardened.

"I may be dormant most of the time, boy, but I can still occasionally hear things. Like your concern for a young lady named…Amalthea was it? You speak of not loving, yet you seemed shaken by her pain. Do not take love for granted, young heir. That may very well be your undoing."

And with those words, the portrait became stationary once more.

Tom stood frozen in place.

Him, love Amalthea Marchbanks? What nonsense! She was nothing more than a pawn, a temporary diversion.

At any rate, the talk with Slytherin had been a disappointment. To think a great wizard like Salazar Slytherin had fallen in love…even if it was with a witch like Rowena Ravenclaw, the thought disgusted him.

Love was for weak and foolish mortals.

He was going to become immortal soon, and he would be above all such pathetic feelings. He glanced down at the ring on his hand; the Gaunt family ring. His first horcrux. He smiled and raised his hand to admire the ring that had taken him one step closer to immortality.

Yes, he was going to go to places no wizard had ever gone before, and he was going to show the wizarding world that old coots like Albus Dumbledore were wrong; there was no good or evil.

There was only power, and those who were too weak to seek it.

 _Tom stood in an unfamiliar courtyard, amidst a chanting crowd._

 _ **Where was he?**_

 _Jostled and pushed around by the crowd, he felt his temper rise in annoyance._

 _ **Why was he here?**_

 _The chanting grew louder, and the words seemed to echo and distort._

 _ **What were they chanting**_ _?_

 _He concentrated on the words to make sense of what they were saying._

 _ **KILL THE WITCH! BURN HER! BURN HER UNTIL SHE REPENTS!**_

 _An unfamiliar sense of dread grew inside him and he pushed apart the crowd to get to the front._

 _What met his eyes made his eyes flash with red and roar in anger._

 _Thea stood in front of him, tied to a stake. Her eyes closed, her head drooped to her chest as flames licked her feet._

 _Hissing in rage he took out his wand, blasting apart the crowd. He tried to run toward her, but his feet seemed to turn to lead and they would not move. He yelled her name and ordered her to open her eyes. He waved his wand to free her from the ropes, but nothing happened._

 _Her eyelids fluttered open, and her grey eyes met his. They seemed to glare at him in accusation as her mouth moved to shape words._

" _This is your fault Tom." she whispered, "You've poisoned me."_

 _ **What**_ _?_

 _Thea's eyes rolled back into her head, and she let out and agonized cry as the flames roared higher, her mouth began to foam-_

Tom awoke with a start.

What had just happened? Did he just…but he had not had a nightmare since he lived in the orphanage.

He raised his hand to push back his sweat soaked hair.

 _Why…Am I shaking?_

This was all the Founder's fault. His tale about the Muggles and Rowena Ravenclaw had messed with his head and somehow tied it together with his relationship with Thea, even though Salazar and Rowena's tale had nothing to do with his relationship with Thea.

 _Do not repeat my mistake, young heir._

Yes, he would not repeat Slytherin's mistake.

He would never make the error of falling in love. He was too intelligent for that. He knew the dream had been nothing but the product of his imagination coupled with the story he had heard. Amalthea was fine, she was in the hospital wing being looked after by a competent Healer.

 _Still it would not hurt to check up on her._

Amalthea was his witch, after all. He couldn't have her die on him just yet.

Casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself, Tom silently exited the dormitory. He slipped out the Common Room and made his way to the hospital wing.

He entered and approached Thea's bed. She slept serenely, her hair spread out on the pillow. The moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating her delicate features, casting them into an ethereal light.

She was fine. He could leave now.

But his feet would not move. He stood rooted to the spot, his gaze not moving an inch from the girl sleeping in front of him. Slowly he reached out, and stroked her hair softly, moving it away from her face.

She shifted slightly and murmured something.

"Tom." she sighed.

For a second, Tom thought she had caught him staring at her like a bloody idiot, but then she turned to her side and let out a soft snore.

Tom let out a breath. Thank Merlin she had not woken up and saw him standing there like some love-struck arse.

"I wonder what I should do with you, little witch. You are becoming too dangerous, you know." he murmured softly. "And yet…I cannot bring myself to kill you just yet."

And with those words, he turned on his heel and headed back to his dormitory.

 _ **A/N: So that's all for chapter eight! I included a line from the original books here; 'there is no good or evil, only power and those too weak to seek it.' Please do review, guys. It's kind of disheartening when you don't! Thank you to everyone who has followed and favorited this story. Keep the love coming! I hope you all liked the inclusion of Salazar and Rowena. I personally love the pairing! Ivet, as usual your reviews make my day! I love your guesses on who poisoned Thea, hopefully that will be revealed very soon.**_


	9. Chapter Nine : No More Lies

_I would like to some of my readers for the lovely reviews they recently left!_

 _Ivet: Thank you so much! Yes, Tom has to be one of the most emotionally confused people ever. He's certainly a hard character to write. Always a pleasure to see your review!_

 _Nofilter: Your review MADE ME SO HAPPY. It perfectly captured the essence of what I was trying to show about the founder and Tom. I'm glad you loved the idea!_

 _Kate: Thank you! I hope you keep reading!_

 _JerveGirl: I am so glad you kept reading. I do admit the first chapters are a slow start, but I am happy you love the later ones! And yes, Slytherin is always depicted as the 'bad' founder, and being a Slytherin, I disagree and wanted to change is a little._

 _ **Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Chapter Nine: No More Lies_**

 _Thea opened her eyes to see…_

 _Nothing._

 _Surrounded by pitch black, she was reminded of Slughorn's party when a similar incident had taken place._

" _Hello?" she whispered, "Is anyone there?"_

 _There was no reply, and she immediately felt silly for calling out in the darkness._

 _Suddenly, she heard a chuckle._

" _Who is that?" she asked sharply, her heart racing._

 _She groped around for her wand, but found her pocket empty._

 _A tiny spot of green light appeared, which gradually grew to reveal the figure of an unfamiliar woman._

 _She had long dark hair that fell to her knees, and was clad in emerald green robes. Her face was of an elfin quality; with slanted eyes, a small upturned nose and a delicate bow-shaped mouth._

 _In short, she was beautiful._

" _Who are you?" Thea asked, a faint tremor in her voice._

 _Her apparent discomfiture seemed to please the woman, as a catlike smile appeared upon her face._

" _Well now, if I just told you that, it would be no fun."_

 _The woman looked around with a look of distaste upon her face._

" _I must say, your subconscious is a terribly dull place."_

" _My...subconscious?"_

" _Of course. That's where we are right now. Don't you remember getting poisoned?" smirked the woman._

" _Your body is still in the real world, but you're trapped inside your mind, because you're too weak to recover from the poison's effects. Really Amalthea, I must say I expected you to be brighter."_

 _Thea narrowed her eyes._

" _How do you know my name?" she demanded._

" _I know a lot of things, love. I know that you wonder why you are in Slytherin, I know that Lucilla Black is the first friend you have ever had. I even know that you have growing…feelings for a certain handsome Headboy, and it scares you that you're falling for him so quickly."_

 _Drawing closer, she put her mouth right next to Thea's ear._

"… _.I also know what happened that night at the New Year's ball." she whispered._

 _Thea's mind went blank with terror._

" _How…how do you know that." she whispered. "No one…I told no one."_

 _The woman tutted._

" _So many questions. It would be too easy if I just tell you what you want to know right now, darling. No, I want to see you suffer first."_

 _At those words, the woman's eyes seemed to radiate with an unholy light, and green sparks shot from her hands._

 _Thea stood frozen with horror. There was no where she could run, no-where to hide. She was trapped in this abyss with a terrifying witch who wanted to hurt her._

 _Thea screamed as the green sparks from the witch's hands turned into emerald fire which drew closer and_ _ **it burned, it burned, oh Merlin it burned so bad.**_

 _She was sure she was going to die here. Alone in this darkness, at the hands of a sadistic witch. She squeezed her eyes shut and without thinking she yelled out a name._

" _ **TOM!"**_

* * *

A scream of pure terror awoke Tom with a jolt.

 _Another nightmare?_

No. This had been different. He did not know why or how he knew that, but he did.

It had been Amalthea's voice, no mistake about that. But Amalthea was fast asleep in another corner of Hogwarts.

He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling growing inside him. Paying no heed to secrecy, he got out of bed and strode out the dormitory.

In almost no time at all, he reached the hospital wing and flung open the doors. A quick glance around confirmed his suspicions.

Amalthea lay in bed, tossing around as if in agony, whimpers escaping her throat. She was mumbling something that Tom drew forward to make out.

"It burns, it _burns._ " she moaned.

"Madam Leonard? _Madam Leonard!_ " Tom called out sharply, knowing the matron would hear him.

In a trice, the healer appeared.

"Mr. Riddle, what are you- _Oh my!_ "

Having spotted the thrashing body of Thea, she rushed forward.

"What is going on?" she demanded.

"I don't _know_. I found her like this, she keeps saying something about a burning."

Madam Leonard raised her wand and began murmuring incantations. However, Thea showed no signs of calming down.

" _Tom! Tom, help!"_

Madam Leonard and Tom both started at Thea's sudden cry. Her arm reached out as if to grab something, and before he realized what he was doing, Tom grasped her hand and held it firmly.

"Calm down, Amalthea." he said to the witch sternly, "I'm right here. All you have to do is just wake up."

Madam Leonard shook her head.

"I do not understand what is going on. I will fetch the Headmaster and Professor Dumbledore."

Tom's gaze shot to her.

"Why Professor Dumbledore? Shouldn't you get Professor Slughorn?"

"This is something beyond simple poisoning, Mr. Riddle. This is Dark Magic, and Professor Dumbledore has a lot of knowledge about curing conditions like these. He may be able to offer some valuable insight."

Tom nodded stiffly, and turned his attention back to Amalthea.

* * *

Madam Leonard exited the hospital wing and hurried along the corridor to Headmaster Dippet's office.

After a hurried explanation of the incident, Professor Dippet seconded her opinion of calling Professor Dumbledore, and hobbled off to the hospital wing.

She found Professor Dumbledore in his office staring dreamily into a little basin in the corner of the room. Taking in her harried appearance and frantic expression, his gaze sharpened.

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

"A student…Miss Marchbanks...she seems to be under the influence of some Dark Magic. I thought perhaps you might..."

Without asking any further questions, the Transfiguration Professor nodded and swept out of his office, with her in tow.

She entered the hospital wing to find Professor Dippet next to Riddle; who was still bent over Miss Marchbanks, his face even paler than normal.

Professor Dippet looked up and sighed in relief.

"Albus! I am glad you are here. Can you..?"

Professor Dumbledore took out his wand and touched it lightly to Miss Marchbanks' temple.

" _Animo Revelio."_ he murmured.

A wisp of green smoke emerged from the young girl's mouth and twisted to form the shape of an odd flower.

She looked at Professor Dippet and saw the confusion she felt mirrored on his face. Professor Dumbledore however, had gone white.

"What is that?" asked Riddle, and Madam Leonard wondered if she imagined the faint tremor in his voice.

She took one look at his impassive face, and dismissed the notion. That boy might as well be a statue for all the emotion he showed.

"I cannot say just yet." answered the Transfiguration Professor, slowly. And then almost to himself, she heard him say,

" _It cannot be…"_

He looked up at Madam Leonard.

"Has she said anything at all, aside from mentioning the burning?"

Madam Leonard cast a furtive glance at the boy in front of her.

"She did call out Mr. Riddle's name quite frantically."

The professor nodded.

"I see. That may be helpful in waking her up. Tom, I want you to keep talking to her. It does not matter what you say, but it is imperative that she hear your voice. Madam Leonard, can you fetch me some Wideye Potion, please."

Madam Leonard bustled around the hospital wing looking for said potion, as Riddle talked to Thea in a low voice that was impossible to overhear. She retrieved the potion, and handed it to the professor.

He waved his wand over the vial and a stream of liquid gushed out into the air, which he directed into Miss Marchbanks' mouth. He then pointed his wand in between her eyes and said in a loud clear voice,

" _Renervate."_

* * *

 _As she cried out Tom's name, the witch gave a silky laugh._

" _You foolish little girl! Do you really think your precious little Headboy can save you? You're not just under the effect of poison, you're under my influence, too. Nothing can help you."_

" _Why are you doing this?" cried Thea, as the flames continued to lap at her, making her writhe in pain._

 _The woman did not reply and instead conjured up thorny vines that wrapped around her._

" _ **-Thea wake up."**_

 _At the sound of the familiar voice, Thea lifted her tear stained face._

" _Tom?" she whispered._

" _ **Open your eyes. I'm right here, you silly little witch."**_

" _Well, what do you know?" came the amused voice of the witch, "It seems your handsome wizard isn't as useless as I predicted."_

 _The thorns and the fire disappeared, and the witch reached out a hand and stroked the side of Thea's face with her sharp nail._

" _I suppose it wasn't time yet. But we will meet again soon, little Amalthea," she crooned. "I'm not done with you yet."_

" _ **Amalthea, wake**_ **up.** _ **"**_

 _Using up every last drop of energy she had left, she mentally reached out in the direction of Tom's voice and focused on waking up._

Gasping, Thea opened her eyes and looked into the eyes of the person who has just rescued her from the hell that she had been trapped in.

"Tom. You came." she whispered.

His face betrayed no emotion, but he clenched her hand a little tighter.

"You were rather loud." he said dryly.

Thea suddenly realized there were other people present in the room. Her cheeks turning pink, she looked up to see Madam Leonard, Professor Dippet, and Professor Dumbledore.

"It is good to see you awake, Miss Marchbanks." Professor Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"Thank you, Professor." mumbled Thea.

"We shall talk about your ordeal tomorrow." Said Professor Dippet, "For now Miss Marchbanks, rest."

He started towards the exit and then paused.

"Ah Mr. Riddle, how did you know about Miss Marchbanks' condition?" asked the Headmaster, in a baffled voice.

"It was my night to be patrolling, Sir. I passed by here and heard Miss Marchbanks cry out, so I investigated."

Thea looked at Tom's carefully bland face and frowned. He was lying.

Professor Dippet however, accepted the explanation without question, and resumed his exiting.

"Mr. Riddle you should go back to bed too." said Madam Leonard, "Miss Marchbanks needs to rest."

Tom nodded and tried to extricate his hand from Thea's, but she held on fast.

He gave her a half amused, half exasperated look.

"I will see you tomorrow, Amalthea."

"Perhaps," interjected Professor Dumbledore gently, "We can make an exception this once, Madam Leonard. It seems like Miss Marchbanks needs a little company to help deal with her ordeal, so it might be a good idea to let Mr. Riddle stay a while."

Thea could see Madam Leonard did not like that idea, but she relented.

A minute later, Thea was alone with Tom. They sat in silence for a while, and then hespoke up.

"So. Would you mind telling me what happened?'

Thea opened her mouth to tell him about the dark place and the mysterious witch, but no words came out.

"Thea?" prompted Tom.

 _What's wrong little Thea? Cat got your tongue?_

Thea felt her heart sink. That voice…It was _her._

 _Did you think just because you opened your eyes, I would leave you? I'm here to stay, and the best part is, I can control you to some extent now. True, my control won't last long, but I will tell you this; You cannot tell anyone about me or that little wizard of yours will pay. Remember my lovely emerald fire? That's what I will use on him and that pathetic little blonde friend of yours. And I will use you to do it._

 _You will suffer alone until my voice drives you insane. Isn't that delicious?_

"Amalthea!" Tom sounded impatient now.

Thea looked at him, her mind still reeling with the fact that the nightmare she had just left was now a permanent fixture in her brain.

"Er- I don't really remember what happened…"

 _There's a good girl._

No. No, this was all wrong. She couldn't let some psychopath witch dictate her.

 _Careful sweetheart, you don't want to make me mad._

Thea blinked. Was it her imagination, or had the voice gotten fainter as soon as she had refused to listen to the witch? Only one way to find out.

"Actually," she started hesitantly, "After I was poisoned, I woke up in this...place filled with darkness. There was a witch-"

 _Don't be a fool, Thea!_

It was definitely not her imagination, the voice had gotten even fainter. She smiled to herself fiercely, it seemed that the hag couldn't do anything if she took charge. She continued.

"And she knew about my life and said she said she wanted to make suffer…"

"Did she now." said Tom softly.

"And there was this fire…Emerald fire she called it, that she burnt me with. You managed to wake me up but... _She's still in my head._ "

"What?" asked Tom sharply.

"I woke up, and I could still hear her in my head. And she said something about controlling me and using me to hurt you but I managed to weaken her when I refused to listen to her but I am afraid she might come back and what if she gets stronger -"

"Amalthea." cut in Tom, "Take a deep breath, you're rambling."

Thea scowled at him.

"You try dealing with a murderous witch in your head." she grumbled.

"It's clear you are still not completely recovered. Now, if the witch you speak of is gone for now, all the more reason to catch up on your rest before she reappears."

Thea grudgingly agreed. Staring down at their intertwined hands, she frowned.

"Tom? Why do you wear this ring all the time?" she asked.

Tom gave her a wry smile.

"You have a malevolent voice inside your head, and you want to know about a silly piece of jewelry?"

She shook her head.

"No don't do that." she said softly, "Don't put on that charming mask to evade questions. You can't fool me, Tom. I know you better than that."

His smile disappeared and his face turned cold.

"Really?" he said in a mocking tone, "We've been together for only a few days and you suddenly think you know me so well?"

Thea drew back, stung.

"That was uncalled for." she said quietly. "Maybe you should leave after all."

"What do you want me to do, Thea? Bare all my secrets to you? Tell you everything about my past? Well here's news for you; that is not going to happen any time soon."

Thea felt anger rise up inside her.

"It was just a simple question, Tom! And all I requested was for you not to pretend to be _charming Headboy Riddle_ just to get your way. But if that's how you feel, then maybe us being together was just a huge mistake."

As soon as she'd said that, she knew she'd made a mistake.

Sure enough, his face darkened.

"I've told you before, this is who I am and you knew what you were getting into when you agreed to be with me."

"And if I change my mind."

Tom looked at her with fury, but stayed silent.

Thea sighed, feeling her anger ebb. She put her hand on his face.

"I don't understand. You're rude, and arrogant and selfish and yet…and yet I don't want to leave."

She chuckled, "I suppose I am mad after all."

Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Rude, arrogant, selfish. Any other virtue you would like to add?"

"Oh stop. You know what I mean."

She leaned forward and put her head on his chest. She felt him stiffen at the contact, but he didn't push her away.

"So that witch…can you hear her right now?"

"No," she answered, "She hasn't reappeared yet."

"I suppose that is a good sign, then. However you can't be too complacent."

"I know." she said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes "I will talk to Professor Dumbledore about it too, tomorrow."

"I suppose that might help." said Tom sourly.

Thea wanted to ask what his problem with Professor Dumbledore was, but since she did not want another argument, she remained silent. She yawned, suddenly feeling drowsy.

Tom pulled back from her.

"You should rest now, we will talk more about this when you are recovered."

"Wait Tom, the ring."

A pause.

"You are really quite persistent aren't you? Let's just say, it's a family heirloom that is as important to me as my life. You might even say…it's a part of me."

Satisfied, she settled back into her pillows and fell fast asleep.

The next day, Hogwarts was abuzz with the news that the poisoned Marchbanks girl had woken up after a week.

Lucilla was the first to visit her in hospital wing. She was near tears, and armed with flowers and candies. They had a lovely time chatting and Lucilla filled her in on all that she had missed.

Salazaria and Dahlia dropped by for a while after lunch. Even Gavin DeLancey came, bearing a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans which, much to Thea's amusement, Tom _Reducto_ -ed when he thought she was not looking.

Professor Dippet had visited her, asking for details on what happened. Somehow, Thea did not feel comfortable telling the Headmaster that she was hearing voices in her head, so she simply told him that she had been poisoned, and then the next thing she had known was waking up in the hospital wing.

However she had a much more detailed conversation with Professor Dumbledore, who listened to her tale with grave concern. However, all he gave was a cryptic warning to stay on her guard and that he would look up on this peculiar occurrence and get back to her. She knew he was hiding something, but she also respected the Transfiguration Professor's instincts and so did not press him.

On the third day of her recovery, Madam Leonard finally gave her permission to leave hospital wing. The first thing she did was look for Tom. Aside from the Gavin DeLancey visit, Tom had been worryingly absent. She was up to the fifth floor when she saw him. She was about to call out to him when she saw something odd.

Tom glanced around furtively as if to check if he was being watched, and then turned into a deserted corridor.

Furrowing her brows in confusion, Thea cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and followed him. He tapped three times on a painting at the end of the corridor.

And disappeared…inside.

Startled, she approached the place he had been standing and stopped in front of a large portrait of Morgan Le Fay and tapped on its left side three times like she had seen Tom do.

Nothing happened.

She tapped again, this time on the right side, and a door appeared. As quietly as she could, she entered and stopped short when she saw who was inside.

All of Tom's friends were seated at a table in the center, with Tom at the head, and they seemed to be in a meeting of sorts. Biting her lip she inched closer, to hear them better.

"….already in motion." Tom was saying, "I have a horcrux already. I just need to make a few more."

No.

 _No_.

Horrified, Thea stepped back. A conversation she had forgotten filtered into her mind.

 _It was the last month of sixth year. She had been on her way to the common room from a Potions class when she realized she had forgotten her quill behind. However, when she reached the classroom, she found it occupied with Professor Slughorn and Riddle. Loath to interrupt, she decided to wait outside till their conversation was finished._

 _Some of the conversation filtered out and she found out that Riddle was talking to Slughorn about some forbidden magic he had read about in a book._

" _Sir, I wondered what you know about. . . about Horcruxes?"_

" _Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?"_

" _Not exactly, sir," said Riddle. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."_

 _"No . . . well. . . you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed," said Slughorn._

 _She could tell Slughorn was reluctant to tell Riddle, but in the end he relented and gave him the information he asked for. A while later, Riddle swept out of the dungeon and passed by her without giving her a backward glance. She entered the potions classroom to retrieve her quill, and soon forgot all about what she had overheard._

The details of these…Horcruxes had made her sick at the time. But she, like Slughorn, had believed that Tom was only asking for educational purposes.

How wrong she'd been.

She turned and fled out of the room, trying to escape soundlessly.

He wanted to make Horcruxes.

He was indulging in very Dark magic.

He said he'd already made a Horcrux.

She suddenly remembered what he had said about the ring he wore.

" _Let's just say, it's as important to me as my life. You might even say…it's a part of me."_

Oh Merlin, he'd actually meant that literally.

Choking down the bile rising up her throat, Thea somehow made her way to the Slytherin common room. The Disillusionment Charm had already worn off, and she wanted to get as far away from prying eyes as possible.

Taking a minute to calm herself, she was about to go up to the girls dormitory, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at the stony face of Tom Riddle. She flinched and snatched away her arm, ignoring the way his jaw clenched at her gesture.

"I'm sorry, Tom I don't feel well. I'm going to go rest in my dormitory-."

"Drop the act, Thea. I already know about your spying."

She blanched.

Tom looked at her face and rolled his eyes in an uncharacteristic gesture.

"Stop looking so terrified. I am not going to hurt you."

Maybe she imagined it, but an unspoken 'yet' hung in the air.

He made an impatient sound.

"Come along with me then. Let's go somewhere we won't be overheard, and I'll give you all the sordid facts I have no doubt you want to know."

She must have paled at his words because he sighed exasperatedly.

"However, first I want you to wipe that ridiculously scared look after your face. If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done so already, trust me."

"That hardly makes me feel better."

Nevertheless, she followed him out the common room, wondering what in Merlin's name he thought he could say to make this okay.

 _ **A/N: Chapter Nine all done! It was actually just written in one night so give it lots of love guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please don't forget to review again! Also, the Tom and Slughorn flashback is taken from the books; i.e the dialogues.**_


	10. Chapter Ten : Down The Rabbit Hole

_**Chapter Ten: Down The Rabbit Hole** _

Thea tried to keep up as Tom tugged her forward by her arm. She couldn't help but be nervous, however she let him pull her along. There was a wild glint in his eye that made her wisely hold her tongue.

She still couldn't believe how stupid she'd been. The signs had all been there. His coldness, the emotionless facade... only, it wasn't a facade was it? That was who Tom was. A being made of ice who seemed to have decided to sacrifice his humanity for eternal life.

She shuddered.

The movement made Tom look back at her and his glare intensified. Yet, he still kept silent. They were on the fifth floor now. He headed towards a statue of Gregory the Smarmy, Thea in tow.

"Uh Tom... There's nothing there." she said hesitantly.

Tom didn't bother to reply to her. He tapped the statue with his wand, and to her astonishment, it sprang to the side. A gaping hole was present where the statue had previously stood.

Tom wordlessly stepped inside and she followed, entering what seemed to be a passage of sorts. She had no idea where it led, and she knew asking Tom was futile. He seemed to have made a vow of silence since the moment they'd left the common room.

They made their way to the other end of the passage, and finally she saw what looked like an exit, where a battered little door stood.

As soon as they stepped outside, he took hold of her hand.

And Apparated.

Thea opened her eyes to find herself standing in front of a grim looking building that looked like something out of a gothic novel. Made of entirely of grey stone, it was tall and surrounded by bare land, no plant or tree in sight. A large wrought iron gate lent an even gloomier look to the already forbidding place. There were precious few windows and the whole aura of the place reminded her eerily of a prison. She peered at the plaque next to the gate.

 _Wools Orphanage._

Thea's heart sank.

The structure she stood in front of did not in any way look like a place any child should grow up in. And she had a dreadful feeling that she was standing right next to one of its former inhabitants.

As if he'd read her mind, Tom spoke in an even voice.

"Wools Orphanage. The charming place where I spent my childhood."

"Your parents…"

"Dead," he said flatly, "Although in the interest of truthful disclosure, my father was very much alive when I resided here."

"Then why?"

He let out a harsh laugh.

"That's not a very pretty tale, Amalthea. I'm not sure you want to hear it and lose your lovely little illusions of justice and innocence."

"Why did you bring me here?" whispered Thea.

Tom stepped forward and touched the plaque, his pale hand a stark contrast to the dark grey of the plaque.

"I was born here. You want to know why I desire to be invincible, correct? There are various reasons of course, but we must start here. At the place where my mother crawled to when my Muggle father cast her aside like a common whore."

She shrunk back in horror at both his words and the venom in his voice.

He seemed not to notice her reaction, as he continued talking.

"My mother was from an old pureblood family, the Gaunts, who also happened to be direct descendants of our house's founder, Salazar Slytherin. My mother lived with her father Marvolo and her brother Morfin. By all accounts, they were both slovenly and craven good for nothings. My mother was hardly better. She let them treat her like a house elf and wasted her days pining over a local Muggle boy, the squire's son. Of course he never gave her the time of the day; he saw her as an oddity, the spineless girl who was one of the freakish Gaunts.

"However my mother decided she could not live without the Muggle, and so she brewed a powerful love potion to ensnare him. It worked; he fell for her under its effect, and sometime later, I was born."

"My mother, with her foolish belief in love, stopped using the potion on him, perhaps thinking that he would stay with the baby on the way. Or perhaps she thought he truly loved her by now.

"Either way, she was wrong. As soon as the potions effects wore off, he discarded her as easily as one discards an old sock. My now heavily pregnant mother searched for a place to go. At first she tried to scrape by, selling old belongings. However when that did not really work out, she came here, at this very orphanage and after giving birth to me, decided she could not live without my father. She died an unremarkable death-after she gave me the repulsive names of my Muggle father and the name of _her_ abusive father- with no one to mourn her. And so Tom Marvolo Riddle began life here at Wools Orphanage.

I had no way of knowing I was a wizard. Strange things seemed to happen around me, and naturally that made all the children hate me. I knew nothing of my parents when I was younger, except that Mrs. Cole, the caretaker,thought she was from...the circus. At age eleven, Professor Dumbledore came to take me to Hogwarts, and well, the rest you can say is history."

Thea looked at Tom's calm face, as he narrated the heartbreaking and sordid tale. Tears streamed down her cheeks, as she covered her mouth with her hands.

She tried to tell herself that he was probably a monster, that he was evil, but there was no denying the vulnerable glint in his eyes as he spoke of his mother choosing to die, the flash of pained anger as he spoke of his father leaving despite knowing of his impending birth.

She knew it was so foolish to care about him after his story, she knew he'd told her so she would be repulsed. But it hurt, oh it hurt, thinking of the confused little boy who knew nothing of his parents or why he was surrounded by strange happenings that he could not explain.

He turned to face her, and his brow seemed to crease a fraction as he took in her tears and obviously distraught appearance.

"Really, Thea. There's nothing to cry about. It's all in the past," he said tonelessly.

"However, my mother's foolishness made me decide that I would never be powerless or vulnerable when I had so much magic at my disposal. Love is for fools and mortals. To love is to surrender yourself to weakness.

I will never die a worthless death like my mother, my uncle, my grandfather…They were all descendants of one of the most powerful wizards of all time, and they wasted both their life _and_ their magic.

The Horcruxes will give me what I want. I will be immortal, free to discover the depths of magic, to be the greatest wizard of all time."

He made as if to touch Thea's arm but she shrunk back, shaking her head.

"I cannot condone this Tom, I cannot. I understand that your parents' story caused you to develop misconceptions about love and mortality. But you are wrong. Your mother never believed in love, not truly. To love is to respect and to sacrifice. What she felt was an obsession that caused her to enslave your father with a love potion. Love is not weakness. It is a strength that can overcome the most powerful of magic."

"Ah, my idealistic Thea," he murmured, drawing closer till foreheads were almost touching, "I wonder where your untainted belief in love comes from? From what you have let drop, it's certainly not your parents, and your friendship with Black is too new... so where then?"

She flinched at the mention of her parents, but did not draw back.

"I've seen it," she said steadily. "Maybe not in my life, but I have seen it. Love is real, Tom even if you are too afraid to admit it."

Tom's eyes went red for a second, but then he smiled.

"Careful, little witch. I may have let you stay alive but you best watch your words."

She swallowed and continued.

"Tom, please. Maybe…maybe it's not too late. Can't you please stop? Please. It is not worth your soul."

A shadow passed over his handsome countenance, and he stepped back.

"Do not think too much of yourself, Amalthea. Your words mean nothing to me. I will make my Horcruxes, and there is nothing you can do about it."

"Then...I cannot stay with you anymore, Tom. I'm sorry. I know you will not let me tell anyone, so I will not even try. However I cannot be witness to this."

He grabbed her wrist and held on tightly.

"Have you forgotten what I said, _lovely_ Thea? I do not relinquish what is mine easily."

She looked back at him steadily.

" _No,_ Tom. I don't care what you say. We are done. I will not be party to this…this atrocity."

His face darkened at her words.

"Very well, Miss Marchbanks. If you are too much of a coward to stay, then you are free of me. I suppose I could expect nothing more from someone like you. No wonder the Sorting Hat did not put you in Gryffindor."

His words were like arrows to her heart, but she knew that despite his cold cruel words, she had somehow managed to hurt Tom Riddle.

She waited for the satisfaction to hit.

It never did, and all she felt was pain and regret.

She opened her mouth to say something to make the conversation less loaded, and that was when the pain hit.

Agony engulfed her inside her mind, and she felt herself fall down to her knees. Her nerves felt as if they were on fire and all she felt was red hot pain and she wanted to scream and scream, and amidst it all, she heard a tinkling laugh.

 _Hullo sweetheart, I'm back._

The witch with emerald fire.

She tried to disentangle her thoughts from the presence of the malevolent being and she heard Tom's voice through the pain, sounding angry and…agitated.

She focused on his voice and a silver thread appeared in her mind. Her subconscious grabbed hold of the thread and tugged _hard._ The pain seemed to recede and she felt her vision return to normal. She looked up to see Tom's face looking a tad paler than usual.

"Was it her?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, unable to speak just yet.

He seemed to hesitate for a second, and then his arms came around her gently.

Thea started in surprise, and looked at him.

He looked slightly uncomfortable as he answered.

"It seemed to help you last time, when you woke up. You put your head on my chest, so I drew the conclusion that certain…contact is helpful in your recovery."

And at that moment, Amalthea knew it was too late. Up till now, what she'd felt for Tom was a small crush mostly based on physical attraction. But the hesitant boy in front of her who comforted her despite every fiber of his being that was probably rebelling against showing physical affection…that boy was dangerous to her heart.

She allowed herself a few seconds to sink into his awkward embrace, then gently extricated from his grasp.

"We should get back to the castle." she said quietly.

Tom's eyes flashed.

"Are we not going to talk about what happened? That witch is still in your head, Amalthea. You can't just ignore that."

"I do not intend to ignore it, Tom. But the problem is no longer something you need to worry about."

"You are a fool," he hissed, "You _need_ my help with this,"

Amalthea gave a bitter laugh.

"Why? Dark Magic inside my head, Dark Magic outside…What's the difference? You've chosen your path, Tom; and in doing so, lost the right to have a say in mine. I will deal with this myself, and you can keep indulging in whatever twisted plans you have."

He did not reply, and she just shook her head in pained disappointment and turned away.

They Apparated back to the door they had come from, and walked back through the passage in silence. Once they reached the common room, Tom looked as though he might say something, but something seemed to change his mind and he headed straight to his dormitory.

Thea gathered what little composure she had left and hurried to her own thankfully empty dormitory, where she cast a _Muffliato_ charm and after giving an agonized cry, sank into her bed and wept till she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 _Thea woke up to find herself in a strange room. Some odd instinct told her it was the same little room she had been in before, when she had been poisoned. This time however, the room was aglow with a dim light and she saw that it resembled her childhood bedroom. She slowly walked towards the roaring fireplace and lowered herself to sit on the plush carpet in front of the fire. She rested her chin on her knees and gazed into the flames that were dancing like wicked little sprites._

 _Memories of what had happened during the day with Tom came unbidden into her mind and she let out a gasping sob._

" _Oh poor dear, did your little Head boy break your heart? came a familiar voice. "I confess, I am impressed. I thought he was nothing but another straitlaced Golden Boy. Horcruxes…that's quite the feat to accomplish. I might be alright with you getting close to him after all."_

 _Thea flinched and looked around to stare at her own personal demon._

" _Demon? Well that's rather harsh, is it not?"_

" _You can read my mind." said Thea dully._

" _Read your mind? Oh Amalthea, you are rather slow aren't you? I am a part of you. What you think, is what I know."_

" _Is this the part where you torture me with your emerald flames again?" asked Thea, tiredly. "Just do it, go on. I can't stop you. We both know that."_

 _Her reaction seemed to enrage the witch, who drew forward, and grabbed the front of her robes._

" _This is exactly why I loathe you, Amalthea Marchbanks. You are a weakling, you always have been, and you always will be. You give up at the first hint of danger and you are nothing more than a **coward**."_

 _Her words, so reminiscent of Tom's seemed to spark fury in Amalthea and scarlet sparks flew from her body, singeing the witch's hands. She drew back, hissing in pain._

 _Thea looked down at herself in surprise._

" _Well, I suppose there's still some fight left in you." the witch sneered._

" _Who are you, anyway? Why are you tormenting me?" asked Thea, angrily._

 _The witch flipped her long hair back in a movement that reminded her strongly of Salazaria._

" _My name is Goditha Gryffindor, twin sister of Godric Gryffindor and ancestor to the illustrious family of the Marchbanks...your ancestor, Amalthea."_

" _No… how is that possible?" whispered Thea, "I've never heard of Godric Gryffindor having a sister."_

" _No, you wouldn't have heard of me, considering how my dear old brother banished me, and with the help of his little friends, cast a spell so I could never tell anyone who I truly was."_

" _But…why?"_

" _Because they were all too weak to understand the greatness I aspired to! I planned to make the Muggle world bow down to us, to make_ _ **us**_ _the rulers. But the saintly founders of Hogwarts thought I was evil for wanting more for our kind."_

" _But…what about Salazar Slytherin… did he not agree with your views?"_

 _Goditha laughed bitterly._

" _Salazar… He was the only one capable of greatness such a mine. Oh such power, such personality. I thought he of all people would understand. But that tart Rowena had too much influence on him."_

 _Thea noticed how her words hissed Rowena's name._

" _Did you…love him?"_

" _Love? LOVE?" cried Goditha, "Foolish girl! What use have I for love? But I saw the greatness in him, the greatness_ _ **she**_ _tried to tamp down. I even tried to give him a push towards my cause, by Imperiusing a Muggleborn Hogwarts student, and using her to destroy Rowena but unfortunately that plan failed. It did, however, make him end up hating Muggles."_

 _A fierce smile appeared on her face._

 _Thea shrank away from the malignant air around the witch._

" _You still have not told me why you are present…inside me," she said steadily._

" _After I was banished I searched and searched for a way to seek my revenge on my brother and his friends. And what better way than to destroy what they had built? Hogwarts was my target. That was how I came across a Curse to put all other curses to shame. It would allow me to sleep until I was reborn within the body of one who had my blood. One who was sufficiently weak enough and Dark enough to allow my influence to take over, so I could enact my revenge. You are the one who the Curse led me to Amalthea."_

" _No," whispered Thea, "No, it can't be true."_

 _Goditha gave a smile glittering with malice._

" _No? Then ask yourself this. Why is it that you are in Slytherin, when no other Marchbanks has ever been put in a house other that Gryffindor?"_

" _A fluke. That's all!" cried Thea, "It means nothing! I do not have darkness inside me!"_

" _Really? Then why is it that that night on New Year's Eve, you cast the Killing Curse where a Stunning Spell would have sufficed."_

 _Thea let out a choked cry, and grasped her head in her hands._

" _No, no, no," she whimpered, "This isn't real. It's all happening inside my head."_

" _Of course it's happening inside your head, Amalthea. But why on earth should that mean it's not real?" smiled Goditha, as green flames shot from her hand._

 _Thea screamed as they drew closer to her, and her hands shot out, and to her surprise red sparks shot out once more._

 _Goditha snarled at the sight, and batted them away with a swat of her hand. Thorny vines appeared, ensnaring Thea, as the witch walked towards her. As she reached Thea, the fury on her face seemed to melt away, replaced by a compassionate look._

" _Why do you not just sleep, little Amalthea? You must be so tired of everything. Your parents refuse to love you, the boy you have feelings for lied to you and betrayed your trust. Your friend will do the same. Let me take over your body, and you can simply rest, and forget all your troubles." Goditha murmured._

 _Her hypnotic voice, and lovely face seemed to erase all of her harsh words from before, and Thea found herself opening her mouth to agree. However, just as the words were about to leave her mouth, the room seemed to shake, growing brighter and brighter. Thea turned and found herself staring at the oddest of sights._

 _A magnificent lion stood near the fireplace, accompanied by a large serpent._

" _What…" she whispered._

 _The two…it felt wrong to call them animals…the two creatures seemed to light up; the lion bathed in a scarlet light, while the serpent glowed green._

" _You're too weak for this, Amalthea. The curse already decreed it so."_

 _ **She lies.**_

 _The voice came out of nowhere, into Thea's hazy thoughts._

" _You are not a Gryffindor. You are too scared."_

 _ **The Balance, Amalthea. The Balance is important.**_

" _You're not Slytherin either, you are too weak."_

 _ **The Balance is within you.**_

 _For some reason this_ _last sentence seemed very important to her, and as she watched, the creatures' lights grew larger until they seemed to be one and the same._

" _Of course..." breathed Thea._

 _She turned to Goditha whose face had turned mottled red._

" _Not today, witch." Thea hissed, "I may be Slytherin, and I also regrettably share blood with you, but I am also from the line of Godric Gryffindor, and I will not give you power over me! That is the real reason you were born within me isn't it? Not because I am weak but because I am both Gryffindor and Slytherin. The man you love, and the brother you hate; both are a part of me."_

" _Very clever," snarled the witch, "But a little too late."_

 _The vines around Thea loosened, and before she could figure out what had happened, she felt a burning on her shoulder as if she had been branded. She let out a scream of pain, and blacked out._

* * *

Thea sat up gasping, in her bed.

She was safe; it had all been just a dream. She looked around and realized it was morning. Sighing, she threw herself back on the bed and winced as a shock of pain ran up her right arm.

With a growing feeling of dread, she pushed down the collar of her shirt and stifled a gasp.

A black iris was branded into her shoulder.

* * *

Tom sat at the Slytherin table next morning, ignoring the whispers around him that emerged when Amalthea entered the Hall and made a pointed show of not talking to him as she passed right by. His hand curled into a fist, but other than that he gave no sign that he had noticed anything different.

As the murmurs died down, he shot Thea a quick look. She looked terrible; she had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was a mess, and there was a haunted look in her eyes. His chest seemed to tighten with an unnamed emotion, but he reminded himself that she had made her choice and thrown his offer of assistance back in his face.

He tried to push the thought of Amalthea out of his mind by diverting his thoughts to more agreeable channels. Remembering the failed Dark Mark spell, he resolved to try it once more after his classes were over. The problem had probably been his distraction with a certain witch, and now that that was over, the spell would be easy to cast.

A flurry of movement down the table made Tom look towards his right, where Thea had stood up from her seat next to Lucilla Black, her cheeks flushed and eyes wild. She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. Turning away from her friend, she near ran out of the Hall.

Reminding himself that the witch was no longer his problem, he forced himself to remain seated. He felt a light hand on his shoulder, and he whirled around to look at the troubled face of Black.

"May I have a word with you please?" she asked quietly.

Tom gestured for her to take a seat next to him.

"It's about Thea…" she said slowly, "I think something happened to her and-"

"Miss Black," interrupted Tom, "I must tell you that Amalthea and I are no longer together, and anything that occurs in her life is of no concern of mine, as she herself as made quite clear to me."

If he expected his words to deter the girl, he was sorely disappointed. Lucilla remained where she was, her eyes like chips of ice as she looked at him.

"I know, she already told me about you two. I also know that despite your words, you kept looking over to where she was sitting the whole time;consciously or unconsciously. Now I do not know what exactly happened between you two, but I know that my friend needs help that only you can give."

"Why do you not just ask her what is wrong yourself?"

She gave a sad smile.

"Do you think I have not tried already? So many times…But it is plain to see she is trying not to worry me. I also know that she will tell you if you ask. So please, just talk to her once."

Without waiting for his reply, Lucilla stood up and grabbing her bag, walked out the Great Hall.

* * *

 _ **A/N: Wow it's been a while since I uploaded sorry! I apologize if this chapter seems a little rushed but I feel like things were going too slowly. I finally made sure that Thea has a concrete reason to start to fall for Tom (how he is trying to comfort her, going against instincts) and we finally know who the witch is! I know there might be gaping holes but I promise all questions will be answered later on. I perverted Albus Dumbledore's line from the seventh book and used it differently. Tell me if you spot it! Have fun reading everyone and don't forget to REVIEW!**_


	11. Chapter Eleven : The Unraveling

**_Chapter 11: The Unraveling_**

It had been two weeks since Amalthea had talked to Tom.

She was going to great lengths to avoid not only Tom, but also Lucilla; a fact that pained her greatly. She loved Lucilla dearly, but the girl asked too many concerned questions, and she wasn't ready to give answers yet.

And so she came to class late, and almost ran out when class finished. She skipped dinner and ate late at night from the kitchens. Since Lucilla was her dorm mate, she could not really hide there, so she started spending time in the Astronomy Tower alone.

In short, aside from staying away from her dormitory and skipping meals, her life was much the same as it had been before getting close to Tom and Lucilla.

At that moment, she was sneaking to the kitchens after hours, to get something to eat. Shivering slightly, Thea wished she had brought a shawl along; it was a chilly night. She rubbed her right arm absent mindedly and winced as pain shot up it.

The mark the witch had left on her arm in her dream had been…growing. The unsettling black flower had started sprouting thorny vines that snaked from her shoulder to her elbow.

Footsteps sounded behind her, making her tense up; if anyone found her wandering the corridors this late, she would be in huge trouble. Before she could turn around to see who it was, she felt something slam into her back with such force that she was thrown forward. She felt something trickle down her chin.

Her lip was bleeding.

Bracing her hands against the floor, she tried to get up, but something dug into her back, pushing her back.

"Merlin, this was way too easy," came a disgusted voice, "You're weaker than I thought."

 _Male._

"Who-" she croaked.

A harsh laugh.

"You think I'm dense enough to tell you my name? Where is she?"

"Where is _who_?"

"Don't play dumb with me! _Diffindo!_ "

Thea cried out in pain as she felt the severing spell cut through her sleeves and leave gashes on her arms.

"Where is she? Where is Lady Goditha?"

Amalthea felt her mind go blank with fear.

She could hear the stranger muttering to himself now.

"-thought she'd be closer to the change already."

 _Change…was he talking about awakening the monstrous witch inside her?_

She couldn't let that happen. Goditha had threatened to use her body and hurt the people close to her and Thea had no doubt she would follow up on the threat. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, she snuck her hand towards the pocket of her dressing gown, where her wand was. Closing her fingers firmly around it, she took a deep breath, whipped it out, and with all the force she could muster, she cried,

" _Stupefy!"_

The force of her Stunning Spell threw the shadowy figure backwards, crashing him into a wall where he lay in a heap on the floor.

Scrambling to her feet, she ran down the corridor as fast as she could, not pausing to look back even once. Turning the corner, she bumped into a solid body.

" _Honestly,_ Marchbanks, I told you before you need to-"

Tom's voice trailed off as his eyes raked in her appearance. Her hair was falling out of its bun, her lip was bleeding, and her tattered sleeves displayed angry red cuts on her arms. She was pretty sure her cheek was also starting to bruise. She watched in morbid fascination as his dark eyes turn red and he opened his mouth to speak.

"W _hat happened_?"

Amalthea almost replied, but remembering her vow of not taking his assistance, she turned her head away.

"Nothing. Nothing happened. Excuse me, I need to get to bed."

" _Amalthea."_

"We've been through this. No."

She brushed past him and started walking away, when one word stopped her in her tracks.

"Please."

She swung towards him in shock.

"Did you just say please?"

The tightening of his mouth was the only sign of discomfort he betrayed, as he looked at her wordlessly.

Thea knew that 'please' had cost him a whole lot of pride. And despite the fact that she knew now that he was a cold hearted sociopath, she wasn't cruel enough to reject the peace offering he had just made. She sighed.

"I was…attacked," she said haltingly.

" _What?"_ he hissed, "Who was it?"

She blinked in surprise at the force in his voice.

"I don't know. I was heading to the kitchens to get something to eat and- where are you going?" she questioned Tom, who had started to walk away from her. With dawning realization, she hurried after him.

"T-Riddle, stop! It's too dangerous to go after him just yet. We don't know who it was or what their motive is and _I don't want you involved._ "

It was no use. The stubborn wizard continued to feign deafness as he strode towards the kitchens. Thea gave up trying to reason with him and followed him to the scene of her attack. They reached the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room to find-

Nothing.

The corridor was empty.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to Tom who'd suddenly stiffened up next to her. She followed his gaze to a scarlet patch on the ground. _Blood._

Her blood.

" _Tergeo,"_ she muttered, pointing at the stain with her wand shaking slightly, "Come on. Let's go back to the common room."

They walked back to the dungeons in silence. Reaching the stone wall hiding the entrance, Amalthea whispered the password.

" _Merlin._ "

The wall slid away to reveal the steps leading down to the common room. They made their way down in silence, but when she turned to go up to her dormitory, Tom's voice stopped her.

"Wait."

She slowly turned to face him and waited for him to elaborate.

"You should reconsider your rejection of my assistance," he said stiffly.

"Are you going to stop making Horcruxes?"

No answer.

Thea gave a small tired smile.

"I thought not. Then I stand by my original decision. I'm sorry."

She turned to go, and then hesitated.

"It's not worth it you know. Dark Magic never is."

Tom gave her a mocking smile.

"And what would you know about Dark Magic, _dear_ Amalthea? I imagine you've lived your whole life in a lovely large mansion, pampered and cloistered away from every sort of anguish and pain. Pure, untouched-"

Hot anger surged within her.

"You're wrong," she hissed, "You have no idea of what I do or do not know."

He seemed taken aback by her outraged reply. He recovered within a second and plastered the smirk back on.

"Oh?" he said pleasantly, "Do tell."

Thea opened her mouth to tell him to sod off, and then stopped. Maybe if she told him…He might actually take her warnings more seriously and stop treating her like some empty headed ninny.

Shivering slightly, she perched herself on an armchair nearby and gestured for him to sit down.

"Fine," she said quietly, "I'll tell you. I warn you, you're probably never going to see the same way again."

"It happened during the Christmas holidays….

* * *

 _ **New Year's Eve.**_

 _It was that time of the year again, the day of the New Year's Eve Ball where her blood status conscious parents invited everyone-who-was anyone to attend their extravagant, ostentatious party._

 _Amalthea hated it._

 _She had been dressed in tight glittery robes, her hair pinned up high and her face 'sufficiently' powdered. She looked around the ornate ballroom with its enormous chandeliers, musicians and exquisite food and felt… nothing but discomfort. She hated crowds and a ball didn't get more crowded than this. The Marchbanks were influential people; to be invited to their ball was considered an honor and no one wanted to offend them by not attending._

 _After an hour of greeting people with a fake smile and faux cheer, she had had enough._

 _She needed to get away for a while. Making sure no one noticed, she quietly slipped out and made her way to the conservatory. Taking off her uncomfortable shoes, she made her way over to a bench and sank into it. The weather was pleasant enough and she felt a slight breeze ruffle through her hair as she closed her eyes and leaned back._

 _A slight rustle sounded and her eyes shot open and she found herself facing an unfamiliar young man with white blond hair and the most arresting pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. He was looking at her with a friendly puzzled smile._

" _And who might be the lovely young lady in front of me be?" he asked._

 _Thea narrowed her eyes at his over familiar tone._

" _I could ask you the same question," she said coolly._

 _He threw his head back and laughed._

" _My apologies. Anthony DeDario the Fifth, at your service."_

" _Amalthea Marchbanks."_

" _Ah so you are the elusive young lady I was supposed to be introduced to. Your parents could not find you but what a lucky coincidence that I met you anyway!"_

 _She gave him a small smile._

" _I suppose so."_

 _He sauntered towards her, and for some reason the movement caused her body to tense up. She didn't understand why, but every instinct of hers told her to get away from this person. Fast._

" _I should probably go," said Thea with a nervous smile, "You said my parents were looking for me…"_

 _Getting up from the bench, she had hardly taken two steps when the conservatory doors banged shut._

 _She swerved around to see the wizard looking at her with an almost lazy smile on his face, his wand twirling between his fingers._

 _She dove her hand into her pocket to grab her wand, however her fingers only grasped air._

" _Looking for this?" drawled DeDario, drawing out a second wand from his robes._

 _Thea looked at him, the blood draining from her face._

" _Knowing non verbal spells has its advantages," he said smiling, "I Accio'ed this in the ballroom."_

 _She opened her mouth to scream._

" _Silencio!" he said sharply, pointing his wand at her throat._

 _Try as she might, she could not utter a single word. She stood rooted to the spot, her terror increasing with every step he took towards her._

 _He was so close now, leaning towards her. He reached out a hand to stroke her face, and she flinched away from his touch._

 _His face twisted into an ugly scowl._

" _So Miss High and Mighty thinks she's too good for my touch?" he jeered, "I'm going to enjoy what I have to do."_

 _Thea wondered at his choice of words. What did he mean by 'have to do'?_

 _However all rational thought vanished into panic as he pulled the neckline of her robes downward. She began to struggle in earnest, pushing, kicking, and trying to get away. Her struggle seemed only to amuse him as he chuckled and wrapped his arm around her in an iron grip. She felt her mind go blank as his hand slipped into the front of her robes, where he'd torn down her neckline. If only she could reach her wand…._

 _DeDario had made a fatal error. It had not occurred to him that she too might have learnt non verbal spells._

 _She felt something poke into her hip. Her wand!_

 _As he continued his nauseous pawing, Thea tried to ignore the bile rising up her throat at his touch, and focused on reaching her wand. He did not notice her hand slipping into his pocket and as it closed around her wand, she screamed out a spell in her head that made him fly away from her and smash against the conservatory doors._

 _Coughing, he wiped away blood trickling from his lip and tried to sit up._

 _With another wave of her wand, she quickly conjured thick ropes to bind him so he could not move, or reach his wand._

" _Well now, that was not very nice, Miss Marchbanks," he said, smirking, "I was quite enjoying myself."_

 _Shaking with anger and fear, Thea pointed her wand at her throat and reversed the Silencing Charm._

" _So what will you do now?" he asked, almost pleasantly, "You know just because you have a wand now won't stop me from getting free in a minute and enjoying your delectable little body-"_

" _Stop it," she whispered, aiming her wand at him._

" _I'll strip that lovely gown from your body-"_

" _Stop it!"_

" _And then I'll tou-"_

" _NO!" she screamed, a hot anger unlike anything she'd ever felt before, coursing through her body,_

" _AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

 _There was a flash of green light and her tormentor slumped to the floor; eyes open and glassy, a look of shock etched upon his face._

" _No…" whispered Amalthea, horrified at her actions._

 _She stumbled back._

 _Looking around wildly, she tried to decide what to do. Trying not to look at his body, she hurried to pick up his wand. Snatching it up, she cast a Disillusionment Charm on herself and ran out of the conservatory._

* * *

"No one ever knew or suspected. They found the body hours later, and it was labeled a murder. However no one had any inkling of who could have killed him, and nothing was traced back to me. Of course that had largely to do with the fact that his murder was not properly looked into. My parents were appalled that something like this had happened at their house. They pulled a few strings and the whole thing was hushed up.

I could not sleep for weeks after that. I used to lie awake, his vacant face flashing before my eyes. When I could finally sleep again, he haunted my nightmares instead of my waking moments. It took me a long time to be able to deal with it. I'm still not completely past it.

"So you see…I do know what it feels to take a life, to give into the darkness." Thea finished, with a bitter smile on her face.

She looked up at Tom, expecting to see indifference or mockery on his face.

She found neither.

He looked…like she'd never seen him look before. His fierce stare was burning holes in the chair and there was a vaguely sick look on his face. With a jolt she realized he was shaking slightly.

"Riddle?" she asked, "Are you alright?"

No response. She tried again.

"Tom? Are you listening?"

His gaze snapped up and met hers and she felt a shiver go up her spine at the murderous look on his face.

"I want to kill him," he rasped, "I do not even care that he's dead, I want to bring him back to life and torture him till he forgets his own name."

Thea gave him a shaky smile.

"Good thing he's already dead then?"

"Do not," he said sharply, "Do not pretend as if this doesn- _why_ are you crying?"

"I am not crying," she said fiercely, even as tears ran down her cheeks.

Tom leaned forward and raised a hesitant hand towards her. With a gentleness she would never thought him capable of, he brushed away her tears. For minute, they both stared at each other, caught in the rare intimate moment.

Thea looked away first, a slight pink tinge on her cheeks.

"I want you back, Amalthea," said Tom quietly.

"I can't- Tom, please. You know what it would take for me to be with you. Let the Horcruxes go."

"I can't." he said.

The perfect Head boy mask was gone and at that moment he looked nothing more than a vulnerable teenage boy.

Feeling herself falling into despair, she grabbed both his forearms.

" _Listen_ to me. I know what it feels like to hate with so much strength. I understand the need for revenge; against the person who did you wrong, against the world, against Fate.

But I also know that this road needs nowhere. I killed him, Tom. I killed that wretched wizard who attacked me, and even though I am not sorry he is no longer in this world, I also cannot bear knowing that I took a human life. You've made a Horcrux already, and I…I know you must have killed someone, so you know I am right. It destroys a part of yourself, and you can never get it back. It's not too late, _you can still turn away._ "

* * *

Tom looked at the pleading witch in front of him. She looked eerily beautiful in the green glow of the common room, with the fire from the hearth lighting up her fae-like features. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as she grasped his arms…and he realized this was the first time in his life that someone was crying out of worry for him.

It felt odd. He did not quite know how to explain it. His chest felt tight and there were knots in his stomach. His heart was beating erratically and his body felt overheated. What was this feeling?

He reached out and stroked a strand of Amalthea's silken hair.

"Alright then," he found himself saying.

He felt her almost jump back from him.

"What- What did you just say?" she whispered?.

Tom slowly blinked and it occurred to him that he had just agreed to halt a quest that had taken him great work and research to pursue. He waited for the doubt and hesitation to hit him.

Nothing. He felt nothing at the prospect.

 _What had this girl done to him?_

He realized that she was still waiting for a reply from him.

He looked into her wide glistening gray eyes and touched the side of her face softly.

"I will…cease to pursue the Horcruxes, for the time being at least."

He saw her frown and knew that did not satisfy her and so he went on to explain.

"I cannot just make a sweeping statement just now," he said quietly, "Try to understand, I have been planning this for years. It will take some time to fully let go."

"You promise that you will tell me if you change your mind and decide to continue down this road?"

"I give you my word. And…I will not stop you from leaving if I do change my mind."

Her eyes widened at his promise.

"I would not ask you to change your mind after hearing your tale," he said stiffly, "I misunderstood your reluctance of repeating history, for ignorance. I know better now and-"

The rest of his words were cut off as she threw her arms around him, making him fall back in surprise. Slowly, he put his arms around her, and pulled her close.

He knew then, as they sat there intertwined, that he would do anything for her. This girl who seemed to care enough about his black heart to cry for him, to fight for whatever soul she seemed to think he possessed, and to…hold him.

Hold him as he'd never been held before.


	12. Chapter Twelve : Memory Lane

_A/N : I would recommend listening to "Inuyasha's Lullaby" while reading the flashback scene. That was what I used as background music and I would love for you all to enjoy the full experience!_

 _ **Disclaimer : I do not own Harry Potter. Or any of the original characters of Harry Potter. Those belong to J.K. Rowling.**_

 ** _Chapter Twelve : Memory Lane_**

 _Tom stepped out of the Great Hall, out of the room that seemed too crowded, too loud, too…everything. The laughter, the swaying bodies, and the hypnotic music had started grating on his nerves and he needed to get away._

 _He felt oddly…restless. The castle that usually felt like home seemed at this moment stifling. He needed fresh air. Casting a Disillusionment Charm, he headed towards the entrance to Hogsmeade behind Gregory the Smarmy._

 _The cold stung his face, and he was glad of it, as he inhaled the winter air. All of Hogsmeade was covered with snow, the trees bare and the buildings…even barer. Digging his hand into his pockets, he strolled along the dimly lit street. The shops had closed and so he found the usually bustling village empty, as no one sane wanted to be out in the freezing weather._

 _He had never claimed to be sane._

 _A tawny owl swept over his head and settled on a tree nearby, its beady eyes focused on Tom, almost as if it could see through his Disillusionment Charm. Maybe it could; owls were remarkably intelligent animals._

 _Not as intelligent as snakes of course._

 _The sound of leaves crunching made him look away from the owl, towards the direction the noise had come from. What he saw made him do a double take. A girl with long brown hair was perched on a little bench outside Honeydukes kicking a pile of dead leaves at her feet. She looked vaguely familiar…_

 _He took a few steps closer and realized who it was; the quiet Marchbanks girl. Her face was pink with the cold, and her eyes looked suspiciously bright. He had the oddest urge to reveal himself and talk to her, an urge he violently ignored and began to move forward when he heard her start humming._

 _He swerved around to see her tilt her head and close her eyes as she began to sing._

" _Here I am, fallen from grace_

 _I close my eyes, and all I can see is your face_

 _You pushed me down, you almost got your way_

 _You don't need to threaten; I already know you'll make me pay_

 _You hurt me, you destroyed me from within_

 _But you paid too, and now you're my darkest sin_

 _Those eyes taunt, those lips twist_

 _I still remember the time you twisted my wrist-"_

 _She broke off with a bitter laugh and Tom realized with a start that she hadn't been singing a song; she'd been making up a morbid little poem about…a past experience? Something she had read? He wasn't quite sure but one thing was clear._

 _He was fascinated._

 _She pushed a hand through her hair as it the wind whipped her long tresses across her face. The effect should have been messy but all it did was make her look like a wood nymph who had ventured out of the forest. He knew he was being disgustingly poetic and sappy over a girl he had yet to exchange two words with._

 _He didn't care._

 _Waving his wand he dissolved the Charm, and cleared his throat. The witch yelped loudly and jumped back._

" _Hullo Miss Marchbanks," he said quietly._

" _Riddle," she said, her eyes wide with surprise._

" _Indeed."_

 _They stayed in silence for a second before he spoke again._

" _That was quite a poem you were singing."_

 _He expected her to blush, or stammer out a denial._

 _She did neither._

" _I would have thought model student Riddle would have better things to do with his time than spy on Morose Marchbanks," she said with a sardonic smile, referring to the nickname the students in their year had given her._

" _I was not spying," he replied, stiffly, "I just happened to be in the area."_

" _So you just happened to be wandering along Hogsmeade, the night of the Christmas Ball, in the freezing cold?" she questioned, "Doesn't sound like something a sane person would do."_

" _You're out here too," he pointed out._

 _She tilted her head and looked up at him in an almost amused manner._

" _I never claimed to be sane."_

 _Tom gave a start, hearing the same words he'd just been thinking, come out of her mouth._

" _Is that so?" he said softly._

 _Another enigmatic smile._

 _She waved him over to the bench she was sitting on._

" _You might as well sit down. I'll get stiff neck if I keep having to look up at you like this."_

 _Tom made his way unhurriedly to the bench and sat down on the damp surface._

" _So," she said conversationally, "You did not really tell me what brings you out here at this time."_

" _Neither did you."_

 _A chuckle elicited from her._

" _Fair enough," she said, "If you want the honest truth, I don't really know what I'm doing here. I remember not wanting to attend the ball, and then everything is a blur till I ended up sitting on this bench."_

 _She frowned._

" _Not quite sure why I told you that," she murmured._

 _He shrugged._

" _Telling a stranger is always easier than telling someone you know."_

" _Oh? So will you tell me your reason then, Mr Stranger?"_

" _Nothing as interesting as yours. I simply despise crowds and wished to clear my head."_

 _She clicked her tongue._

" _Well that's a very mundane reason. I expected better from you, Riddle."_

" _Sorry for disappointing you," he replied, amused._

 _She looked up at the grey sky with an answering smile._

" _Rain's a-coming," she said softly._

 _He opened his mouth to reply and-_

Tom's eyes flew open. He sat up in his bed, pushing back his hair and braced his head against his forehead. He wondered why that particular memory had come in his dream that night. Perhaps it was because he and Thea had taken a major step forward the day before, and his mind needed answers for that night, where he had been so sure he'd stumbled upon something unique, if not special.

Only to find out that it had only meant something to him.

The old sting of hurt pride curled up inside him at the memory of her blank look, but he managed to stifle it. He thought back to everything that had happened with Thea, and began to view that night in a different light. What if she really did not remember and it had to do with that malevolent presence in her mind?

He made a mental note to ask her when he saw her. Pushing the thought aside for the moment, he got out of bed and hurriedly dressed for breakfast. As he fixed his tie, his mind drifted to the events of the night before, to the memory of Thea's warm arms around him. He felt a small smile appear on his face, and try as he might, it would _not_ disappear.

Exiting the dormitory, he made his way to the Great Hall, where he saw Thea already seated at the Slytherin table. As if she heard him enter, she looked up towards him, and her face broke into a smile that made him want to grin back.

Merlin's beard, he was turning into a ninny.

He slid into the seat she had saved for him, and started when she brushed her lips against his cheek.

"Don't look so surprised," she chided softly, "That was to say good morning."

"I hope you don't greet everyone like this," he said, cocking an eyebrow at her.

She chuckled as she began to butter the slice of toast in her hand.

"I had the strangest dream last night," she mused.

"Oh?"

"It's odd-It seemed more like a memory than a dream…except for the fact that I'm sure it never happened in reality."

"What was the dream?"

"I dreamt I met you in Hogsmeade the day of the Christmas Ball. You came upon me sitting in the street just across the Hog's Head-"

He looked up sharply.

"What's the matter?" she asked, surprised

"Amalthea…" he said slowly, "That _did_ happen."

"What- _no._ It's-it's not possible. I'm sure I would remember it if it had."

He frowned.

"That explains a lot, then." he muttered

"What?"

"I tried to talk to you after that, but you just replied with a blank stare as if you had no idea what I was talking about. So I assumed you didn't want our acquaintance to go any further, so I never tried to mention it again."

She paled.

"That's not possible, because…that would mean..."

She looked up at him with a wild glint in her eyes, her face drawn and pale.

He knew what she was thinking about. Goditha could apparently also tamper her memories. He touched her hand softly, trying to reassure her, and in response she curled her fingers around his and held tight. Taking a deep shuddering breath, she frowned as if pondering something.

"What I- we- need to do is figure out what makes her stronger, and what exactly is going to weaken her," she said slowly, "If I could only find out what triggers her presence-oh!"

"What is it?"

"I think I know what makes her stronger."

"Well, go on!" he said impatiently.

"It's you."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean not you as in, _specifically_ you. But more the emotions that get triggered whenever we are together. For instance, the first instance was after we'd argued and the potion knocked me out. The second time was outside the orphanage when we decide to end things. All these incidents weakened me mentally and emotionally and probably made it easier for her to take over. And the reason for her awakening wasn't me talking about her as I thought before; it was probably because my emotions got stabilized after I woke up and things with you were okay."

He gave her a long, assessing glance.

"It is certainly possible," he said slowly.

"And that's probably also the reason that there was no sign of her in my mind before this year; I never let anyone get close enough to affect me before this year."

Tom stood up.

"Come with me," he said abruptly.

She looked up at him, bewildered at the sudden change in conversation. Slowly, she put down her napkin and stood up next to him. His fingers curled up around hers, surprising her, and he clenched her hand tightly. She looked up at him, but his face betrayed no expression. He lightly tugged at her arm, making his way around the tables and out of the Great Hall. Once they exited, he came to a sudden halt, leaning against the stone wall behind him.

"What's wrong?" asked Thea, confused at his odd behaviour.

He didn't reply for a minute, staring off into the empty corridor. Finally he turned his face towards her, and she was taken aback by the empty look in them. He seemed to realize his face had given away too much and abruptly jerked his gaze away.

Slowly she took a step towards him, and brushed a stray curl away from his brow. He flinched slightly, but otherwise remained still.

"What's wrong?" she asked again, in a gentler manner.

"If you are right in your theory, then my continued presence in your life is only going to bring you danger," he gave a dark chuckle, "Just like it does to every other person who I am connected to."

She knew he was talking about his mother. She knew that she should be soothing his worries, or reassuring him. But all she felt was a hot burst of anger.

She grabbed him by his robes and tugged him down and forced him to meet her eyes.

"I am going _nowhere._ Don't try your 'I am too evil' routine with me. Not only is it cliché, it is also a weak excuse. You turned your back on your dreams of power for me, Tom Riddle, don't think I have forgotten. I will not push you away just because you make me feel things that no one else has made me feel. And I will not let you push me away either, so if you think for _one second,_ that I am going to stop loving you just because some crazy ancient witch has decided to reincarnate herself using me, you've got another thing coming!"

She paused, her chest heaving from the tirade. Tom had a pale, shell-shocked look on his face for some reason.

"You…love me?" he whispered, his breath catching on the word love, as if he could not quite believe the sound of it.

Thea realized then, what she had said, and clapped her hands over her mouth, feeling her face turn red from embarrassment.

Neither of them said anything, their gazes intertwined in the silence.

He reached out as if he was going to touch her face, but dropped his arm and fell back against the wall, staring up at the ceiling.

She did not quite know what to make of his reaction, but she knew she also did not want to take her words back. He deserved to know. The thought gave her courage and she drew forward and took his hands in hers.

"I love you, Tom," she said firmly, "And I realize that you do not feel the same way, but I won't pretend that I never said this, because it is true."

"I did not say I don't lo- feel the same way," he said haltingly.

"Then you-?"

He shook his head.

"I don't know. I don't know what that feels like, I've never had anyone say that to me before," he said, and though his voice was steady and calm, his words betrayed a sort of vulnerability that made her heart ache for him.

"I do know that I have never felt the way I do about you. You make me want to be…better."

He sounded surprised at himself as he uttered the last sentence.

Amalthea smiled at him.

"Then that is good enough for now," she said softly, and stood on her toes to touch her lips to his.

* * *

Tom sat in the library several hours later, a Potions book opened in front of him. For the first time in his life, he found himself so distracted that he could not read a single word on the page. He was amused to realize that his life had been nothing but 'firsts' since Amalthea had dropped into it. He imagined saying that to her, and he knew she'd respond with a roll of her eyes and an accompanying quip.

He almost didn't hear someone drop into the chair beside him. He looked to his right to find Malfoy. All traces of amusement wiped away from his face, he cocked an eyebrow and looked the blond boy.

"What is it, Malfoy?"

"My Lord, the others and I were wondering, when is the next meeting? You have not called us in ages and some of them are getting _restless_."

"Are you presuming to dictate my plans, Malfoy?" he asked pleasantly.

Malfoy blanched, his pale face turning even paler with fear.

"No, my Lord. Never, my Lord."

"Good," he drawled, "As it happens, I do need you to carry a message."

The blond wizard leaned forward eagerly.

"I have decided to suspend my plans…indefinitely, for the time being."

Tom felt a twinge of regret as he said the words; all his great plans for revenge and power put on hold, or maybe even finished for good. Before he could change his mind, Amalthea's earnest face flashed in his mind, as she sat in the common room with her lovely grey eyes shimmering with unshed tears. That one image, and the memory of her arms around him after, cemented the decision for him.

In contrast, Malfoy looked as though he had just been stabbed.

"M-my Lord, but, what about all our plans? The Horcruxes, the Death Eaters? Are we just going to _move on?_ "

He said the last two words with such horror that it amused Tom.

"You are the heir to one of the most distinguished pure blood families, Malfoy, fortune and all. I am sure that you will be fine with or without dominion over the wizarding world."

He swept up his things from the table and was about to leave when the foolish wizard spoke.

"Is it the girl? Is she the reason you will throw away all our work? For that little-"

"If you value your life," said Tom softly, letting Malfoy see the red flash in his eyes, "You will not finish that sentence."

Slowly, he stood up.

"You may convey my message to the rest," he said coolly.

He left Malfoy on the table, still spluttering with disbelief. On his way out, he bumped into Gavin DeLancey, who was entering the library. He brushed aside and was about to exit when DeLancey gave him a friendly smack on the shoulder.

"Riddle! Just the man I wanted to see," he said cheerfully, "Have you seen Miss Marchbanks?"

Just remembering DeLancey's hands on Amalthea's shoulder at Slughorn's party made Tom want to fling an Unforgivable Curse at the grinning young wizard.

"I have not," he replied coldly, "Now if you'll excuse me."

He pushed past the other wizard who winced, and grasped his hip. When he realized Tom had seen him flinch, he flashed another annoying grin.

"Fell down the stairs, hip still hurts like hell. Hey, if you see Miss Marchbanks, tell her Dumbledore is looking for her."

Tom paused for a second at that information, and then continued on to the dungeons. Reaching the stone wall hiding the Slytherin Common Room, he muttered the password and entered. He found Amalthea perched on of the armchairs next to the fire, talking to Lucilla Black in an animated manner. She threw her head back and laughed at something Black said, drawing quite a few stares from the people around the two. Amalthea Marchbanks was not known for displays of such exuberance in public.

A small smile quirked his lips upward and he made his way towards her. She saw him approaching and grinned at him.

"Dumbledore is looking for you," he said without preamble, once he reached her.

"Hello to you too, Riddle," said Black dryly.

Amalthea threw her an amused glance, before nodding at him. She didn't seem surprised that the Transfiguration Professor was looking for her.

"You know why he wants to see you." he said.

It wasn't a question but Amalthea nodded again. She didn't seem to want to say more in front of Black.

"Well, let's go then," he said, "Dumbledore's probably waiting in his study."

"You're coming too?"

Tom gave her a disbelieving look. Did she really think he didn't know that she was going to talk to Dumbledore about Goditha?

She seemed to understand his wordless look, and smiled at Black.

"I will see you later, Lucilla."

As they walked back towards the Common Room entrance, Tom cast a furtive glance at her friend.

"I see you're talking to Black again. What did you give as a reason for ignoring her all those weeks?"

Amalthea sighed.

"I truly feel bad about that. I told her that I was going through a rough patch and had problems with my family, so I shut everyone out. It's not even a complete lie, considering that that old hag is my ancestor."

"So what do you think Dumbledore wants with you?" he asked in a neutral voice.

She threw him a cautious glance, recalling, no doubt, the last time they had talked about Dumbledore.

It had not ended well.

"After the poisoning incident, I talked to Professor Dumbledore about Goditha, although I did not know who she was, or what she wanted then. He promised to look up on it an get back to me."

She frowned.

"Although," she continued slowly, "It did seem like he knew more than he was letting on."

"Wouldn't be the first time," muttered Tom, "Certainly will not be the last."

He could feel Amalthea's curious gaze on him, and he knew she wanted to know the reason why he disliked the Transfiguration professor. However he didn't feel like talking about it, and she did not press, so the subject was dropped.

They were almost at Dumbledore's office when she suddenly came to a stop so suddenly that he almost bumped into her.

Confused, he looked over at her and was perturbed to see that her entire face was pale.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, "Is it her?"

"No," she whispered, "But… I just realized I might not like what Professor Dumbledore has to tell me."

Sighing, he slid a careful arm around her waist. It still felt unnatural to him, this physical contact with another person, but it helped her, and he was increasingly finding himself wanting to do just that. He wasn't an idiot, he knew it meant that he was falling for her harder, and that thought might have made him recoil in horror once- but he found the thought did not bother him as much anymore.

He swerved her around lightly so she was flush against his body, and to his consternation, she nuzzled her head against his shoulder. He wished at that moment that he was good at offering words of comfort, but all he had ever known was threats and empty charm; neither of which could help him at that moment. And so he just stood there, holding her in his arms, saying nothing. However judging by the way her body had relaxed in his hold, it was apparent that she was content with the silence.

A few moments later, she gently detangled herself from him and took his hand in hers, leading him towards Dumbledore's office. Once they were in front of the Professor's door, she let go of his hand and knocked softly. There was a muffled sound from inside, which they took as a bid to enter, and Thea pushed the door open.

And screamed.

Tom instinctively reached out to her and dragged her behind him. The room was filled with thick black smoke; it wrapped around them, and Tom felt it burn his eyes, his throat. The room smelled of ash and…mint.

"Professor? Professor Dumbledore!" he heard Thea call out.

Tightening his hand around hers, he raised his wand.

"Fumus Evanesco!" he yelled.

As the smoke began to slowly dissipate, Tom knew this was no ordinary smoke. The spell was supposed to make the smoke Vanish as soon as it was cast, however it was slowly becoming transparent and floating away. As the last of it disappeared, the two slowly went further into the room and gaped at the wreckage that was supposed to be the Professor's office. The furniture was upturned, the mirrors smashed; the tiny gold instruments that usually adorned the room were crushed as though someone had seized them and taken great pleasure in crushing them to pieces. The cage that held Dumbledore's pet phoenix was empty.

"This is horrible." came Thea's small voice from his side.

He looked at her pale face, eyes glittering with tears and remembered that she actually liked the old coot.

If he was being honest with himself, he really did not care if Dumbledore was hurt or in trouble. What was actually worrying was that unless this was the work of any of the staff, or students (which he highly doubted) then someone had broken into Hogwarts. A feat that was extremely difficult, meaning that this individual was extremely powerful and dangerous.

Stepping over the clutter on the floor, he approached the desk where the smoke seemed to have been originating from. He pulled back the chair and spotted a small telescope that was vibrating furiously. He reached out to pick it up when Thea's sharp voice stopped him.

"Don't just touch it like that," she said in a half angry, half scared voice, "It could be poisonous or worse."

Cursing inwardly at his absent mindedness, Tom nodded at her and pulled out his wand, Levitating it up and placing it on the desk. The lens was dark, the cloudy image within it reminiscent of the black smoke that had been occupying the room.

"What do we do with it?" whispered Thea.

"Report it to Professor Dippet," he said calmly, "We have enough on our plate as it is."

"What if- what if this is connected to that?" she said nervously, "Maybe this is the same wizard who attacked me outside the kitchens."

Tom felt a burn of anger at the reminder. Amalthea's bruised face flashed in his mind and he tamped it down before he broke something. He was about to reply when-

"WHAT is going on here?" came a furious voice from behind him.

 _ **A/n: Sorry for the delay in this chapter! I had a small (okay not that small) writer's block. This is the chapter I am proudest about so please please make sure to review 3**_


End file.
